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.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho was a proud man after defeating Chelsea in the pre-quarters of the League Cup on penalties, despite making 10 changes to the team which had played against Newcastle United on Sunday.
“It’s a victory of a team, of a group. The ones who didn’t play Sunday, they gave everything. The ones who played Sunday, they were ready to help. The ones in the stands, they were here suffering. It’s a great feeling,” Mourinho was quoted as saying on the official website of Tottenham Hotspur.
“Eric Dier, maybe one day he can explain his feelings about playing two 90 minutes in the space of three days, and special 90 minutes, because if you go to another league, intensity is lower, but you know, Premier League football is incredible. We beat an amazing team. To beat them was good for us, a great feeling for us” he added.
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The match had ended 1-1 after 90 minutes with Timo Werner scoring for Chelsea and Eric Lamella cancelling his effort.
In the shootout, Chelsea’s debutant goalkeeper Edward Mendy failed to stop Dier, Lamela, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Lucas Moura and Harry Kane scoring from the spot.
The Blues were on level footing with Tammy Abraham, Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho and Emerson also converting. But Mount, the fifth Chelsea man to hit from the 12 yards spot, clipped the post to miss the nets and hand Tottenham the victory.
However, Mourinho was not pleased with the schedule as Tottenham played their second of the four matches in eight days.
“The number of minutes played is dangerous. What I did today with I Eric Dier today is very dangerous. “It should be forbidden to play two matches in 48 hours. What Eric Dier did is not human,” the Spurs manager said.
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