It wasn’t exactly a “glory, glory” European night and it definitely wasn’t always pretty, but Tottenham Hotspur went into one of the great atmospheric cauldrons of European football and came from behind to earn a tough 1-1 draw against Rangers at Ibrox. After a scoreless first half, Hamza Igamane opened the scoring for the hosts just after the break, but Dejan Kulusevski leveled the score for Spurs late in the half and Tottenham held on for a critical point in the Europa League group stage.
Ibrox was rocking from start to finish in this match, but he first half was something of a snooze-fest if you’re a Spurs fan. In the first two minutes, Tottenham started off brightly with some nifty passing to get the ball forward quickly that ended with a miscued shot by Timo Werner. Timo had another look in the opening ten minutes, blazing another attempt narrowly over the bar.
But Spurs let Rangers establish themselves in the match fairly easily. Contrary to what we often see from them, Tottenham hardly pressed Rangers at all in the first half, and what chances they did have mostly came from at least attempting to be creative with the ball. That said, they did frequently try and use the pace of Son Heung-Min, Werner, and Brennan Johnson to get the ball forward quickly, but Spurs rarely troubled Rangers keeper Jack Butland as the wingers had difficulty beating their defenders.
Rangers, meanwhile, regularly disrupted Spurs’ defensive lines in transition, getting past Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie into space and attempting to force Radu Dragusin and inexperienced Archie Gray into making mistakes. Rangers had nine shots in the opening 45 minutes to Spurs’ six and forcing Fraser Forster into two decent saves, including one with his foot on Vaclav Cerny. That said, the halftime xG was a paltry 0.30 — 0.34. The first half ended scoreless.
Ange Postecoglou opted to make one halftime adjustment, bringing in Dejan Kulusevski for Werner. Spurs also came out pressing a lot harder than in the first half. But it was Rangers who struck first after Rangers captain James Tavernier picked up a loose pass and lofted a lovely cross over the head of Archie Gray and to the feet of Hamza Igamane, who slotted past Forster to put the home side up 1-0.
Rangers continued to make Spurs feel uncomfortable in possession, but Spurs did most of the damage to themselves, with some absolutely woeful passing in midfield that led to a number of Rangers shot attempts and set pieces.
Postecoglou made a triple sub at 60 minutes, bringing on Lucas Bergvall, Pape Sarr, and Dominic Solanke for Johnson, Yves Bissouma, and Rodrigo Bentancur, hoping a complete midfield shift would also change Spurs’ fortunes in this match. Spurs did have more of a spark after the subs, with Maddison earning a couple of free kicks in dangerous areas and Solanke forcing a save by Butland midway through the half.
It was Kulusevski who was the real difference-maker, who put Spurs level midway through the second half. Spurs’ defense lured Rangers forward to press, which left space in behind the lines;Tottenham got the ball forward into Rangers’ half, Deki played some nice combination passing with Solanke, took a dribble, and fired low past Butland to make the score 1-1.
Rangers kept pushing for the winner. Forster made a massive reaction save on Rangers’ Cyriel Dessers, and Rangers had a ball in the net called back for offside. Solanke also had a couple of shots saved by Butland in what was a frantic end of the match. Both sides had opportunities to win, but in the end a draw felt like the fair result. The match ended 1-1, with Spurs perhaps feeling fortunate to escape Scotland with a point.
Match Reactions:
- Ibrox is an amazing atmosphere, and it was a neat experience watching Spurs play in that kind of pressure-cooker. They didn’t always handle it well, but matches like this are why I like European competition, even if Spurs don’t always play at their best.
- Final stats: Rangers outshot Spurs 15-12, xG 1.49 — 0.87. Spurs had the majority of posession.
- Big story of the first half was Spurs not being careful with the ball, which really reduced their effectiveness going forward. Spurs also were not pressing like they usually do and at times looked like they were deliberately playing slower than usual — conserving their energy? They did press more in the 2nd.
- It wasn’t a good offensive first half — Tottenham really depended on their wide players for ball progression, but time and time again both Johnson and Werner would pull up from chances and cycle the ball backwards, allowing Rangers to set their defense.
- Another solid match from former Celtic keeper Fraser Forster, who caught boos from the Ibrox faithful the entire game and made some absolutely crucial stops, none bigger than a late save on Cyriel Dessers that preserved the draw.
- I can’t even be mad at the Rangers goal, as it was a lovely cross from Tavernier right to the feet of Igamane. Porro did not cover himself in glory on that play, however.
- Lucas Bergvall had a pretty nifty match. He might not be as Premier League ready as we hoped this season, but he does some neat stuff with the ball and plays better off the bench than as a starter. You can certainly see his potential.
- The triple sub made a huge difference in this one — the combo of Bissouma/Bentancur stodged up the match and didn’t really generate anything going forward, and adding the running of Sarr and Bergvall, plus the pressing of Solanke was a nice change.
- A fairly solid performance from Radu Dragusin and Archie Gray in what was a very intense atmosphere in Glasgow. I continue to be impressed with Gray’s calmness on the ball, especially for a player his age.
- The ref was slightly insane in this one, giving an inexplicable yellow on Bergvall and a few other bizarre calls that went in Rangers’ favor, and then not giving Rangers the opportunity for the final free kick before blowing for time.
- A point is disappointing, but in context is not a poor result, even acknowledging that Spurs are in theory a much better side than Rangers. Spurs are still just outside of the top eight with 11 points, but are virtually assured progression to the next round and can probably clinch top eight and a bye with 4 points from their next two matches. Spurs play away at Hoffenheim (26th place), and home to Elfsborg (24th place) in their final two matches. They’re in good shape, though it would’ve been nice to clinch earlier and play the kids vs. Elfsborg.
