Europa League: Tottenham’s unbeaten run ends in thrilling 2-3 loss to Galatasaray
Tottenham Hotspur’s flawless start in the Europa League came to an end on Thursday, as they fell 3-2 to a resilient Galatasaray side.
In a Group B match in London, Tottenham Hotspur recovered a two-goal deficit before winning 4-2 against Olympiakos and booking their spot for the knockouts.
Spurs’ new manager Jose Mourinho’s home debut turned out to be a perfect night after captain Harry Kane scored a brace to influence the rejuvenated comeback in front of their home crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Yusuf El Arabi and Ruben Semedo scored in 6th and 19th minute respectively to give the visitors an unprecedented lead before Dele Alli got one back for the hosts in the stoppage time of the first half.
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The home team came all guns blazing in the second half as Kane scored in the 50th minute from a Lucas Moura delivery. Much to the relief of Mourinho and all others in sidelined of Spurs, Serge Aurier gave them the lead in the 73rd minute before Kane scored his second of the night in the 77th minute.
Meanwhile, the equaliser from Kane at the opening minutes of the second half was inspired by an unprecedented course of action.
After the ball went beyond the sideline for a throw-in of Tottenham, a ball-boy quickly delivered the ball to Aurier who threw the ball back into play in a flash to set up Moura’s cross, through which Kane saw the back of the net.
Absolute class from the ball boy. Sign him up. @SpursOfficial #TottenhamOlympiacos #kane #Mourinho
— Devilish (@Welsh_Arjen) November 26, 2019
Mourinho was seen congratulating the young boy whose street-smart intelligence provided the home team with the opportunity to equalise.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) November 26, 2019
“I love intelligent ball boys, like I was! I was a brilliant ball boy as a kid. And this kid today was brilliant, because he reads the game, he understands the game and he made an assist. He made an important assist. So it’s a good moment for him and he’ll never forget it,” the manager said after the match.
The former Chelsea and Manchester United manager also revealed that he wanted to celebrate with the kid after the match was over. “I tried to invite him into the dressing room after the game to celebrate with the team but he’d slipped away,” he was quoted as saying to BBC Radio Live 5.
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