UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE
GROUP C
Matchday 6
THURSDAY 11TH DECEMBER, 2014
(6 PM – GMT)
BESIKTAS 1 (0) TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0 (0)
Scorer:-
Tosun, 59
Attendance:- TBC – Est:- 20,000
Referee:- Stefan Johannesson
Assistants:- Fredrik Nilsson & Daniel Gustavsson
Additional assistants:- Andreas Ekberg & Mohammed Al-Hakim
Fourth official:- Magnus Sjoblom
(All officials from Sweden)
Teams:-
Besiktas (4-1-4-1):- Zengin (Capt.); Serdar Kurtulus, Franco, Gulum (sub Nukan, 46), Motta; Uysal; Tore (sub Koybasi, 84), Frei (sub Yaman, 93), Sosa, Sahan; Cenk Tosun
Subs not used:- Emre Metin (GK); Tugay; Umit Karaal; (Only 6 substitutes named)
Booked:- Gulum (foul on Soldado)
Spurs (4-2-3-1/4-1-4-1):- Vorm; Walker (sub Capoue, 76), Kaboul (Capt.), Chiriches, Rose; Paulinho (sub Lennon, 70), Stambouli; Townsend, Dembele, Chadli; Soldado (sub Lamela, 69)
Subs not used:- Lloris; Fazio, Davies; Onomah (number 43)
No bookings
No Turkish delight for Tottenham
Spurs didn’t get the Christmas draw they needed to secure top place in Group C, and there was no delight for the travelling fans, or those who watched on TV. Even Besiktas do not use the Ataturk Olimpiyat Stadium for every home game whilst their own stadium is being re-furbished, and the pitch was not conducive to good football, with the ball not running smoothly, which of course upset Spurs more than the home side, who are more familiar.
At the end of the day, Spurs lost because their strike force (such as it was) lacked the punch to truly bother goalkeeper Zengin, and they conceded the solitary goal following a Kaboul error, and succumbing to the pressure which followed, with Cenk Tosun finishing Sahan’s cross from close range.
There were also two stoppages to the game, because the floodlights failed, and the darkness must have come as a merciful relief, because the quality of the football, and entertainment value was not much better. I hope those who paid Spurs VIP rates (around £1300) enjoyed their trip! I saved my hard-earnt cash, and was entertained by Chris Rea at Sheffield City Hall. Spurs fans had endured another “Road to Hell”
The Spurs strike force is diminished because Emmanuel Adebayor has been allowed home for “personal family reasons”, and Harry Kane was one of those players who did not travel, presumably being saved for Sunday’s game at Swansea. Spurs have now failed to score in their last three games. Their notified set-up was a 4-2-3-1 with Dembele to play beside Stambouli. However, it was evident from the outset that Paulinho was playing a more advanced role, and it wasn’t long before Spurs matched the home side’s 4-1-4-1 formation, with Stambouli the man nominated to protect the defence.
Kyle Walker made a welcome return. His last match was Spurs last Europa League defeat away to Benfica in March). Danny Rose was at left back, and both he and Walker were given licence to go forward, with Townsend often found down the channel inside Walker, and Chadli similarly inside Rose. The attacking intentions fell short, because of profligacy in the last third, and important passes falling short on the rough surface.
Spurs put themselves under pressure early on, thanks to a Vlad Chiriches error, but they recovered, before attacking down the left side with Rose’s early ball winning a corner. Spurs won plenty of corners and possession in that first half, but made little of that statistic. Dembele fed a good ball to Chadli, whose cross was just too high for Soldado, before the first lights failure, which led to a stoppage of 16 minutes.
After that break, Chadli hit a weak shot at the keeper, after Soldado’s knock-down. Paulinho took a good free kick after Dembele was fouled. Kaboul headed the ball back into the middle from the back post, but Soldado hit his close range effort straight at Zengin. Gulum got the only yellow card of the night for a foul on Soldado. Referee Mr Johannesson is not one to dish out the cards willy-nilly and kept a cool head all night in difficult circumstances.
Another Dembele ball found Soldado on the right side of the box, but his effort was blocked at the expense of a corner. Dembele was the provider again, this time for Chadli, who chipped the ball into the net, but the whistle had already gone for offside. At the other end, Olcay Sahan had one effort blocked, then fired the rebound over. Slaven Bilic’s side were depleted by injuries to Demba Ba and Pektemek, along with 6 or 7 other absentees. Bilic was only able to name 6 substitutes.
Townsend managed a rare good pass to Soldado, whose cross won another corner.
After the break it was noticeable that the home side raised their tempo, and whilst not giving Vorm much to worry about, over the course of the second half, they looked much more threatening than Tottenham. Danny Rose did have a cross/shot which troubled Zengin, but the ball rolled safely across the area.
After a mistake by Kaboul, Cenk Tosun cracked a shot against the bar, and in the ensuing play, Gokhan passed to Sahan from a central position, and Sahan’s short cross from the left was converted from close range by Tosun. The scorer raced to the touchline and held up the Besiktas number 11 shirt, usually worn by Pektemek, who suffered a nasty facial injury at the week-end.
Chadli knocked down a long ball by Paulinho for Soldado, but the shot was blocked for a corner, from which Soldado had another effort, again deflected for a corner. Paulinho threaded a ball to Soldado, who fed Danny Rose, whose shot was held by the keeper.
Soldado was replaced by Lamela, who had no influence on the game, and Paulinho was replaced by Lennon. Spurs made little headway though, and Jose Sosa fired a chance over the target for Besiktas.
Kyle Walker was replaced by Capoue, and Stambouli moved to cover at right back. Lamela did have one effort saved in the short time after the added time lights failure, but it was all over. Spurs have thus made it difficult for themselves in the draw for the Round of 32, when they will face either a Group winner, or a seeded Champions League drop-out team. One possible opponent would be former head coach Andre Villas-Boas’s Zenit St. Petersburg team. It’s almost inevitable, isn’t it?
Europa League Group C
P W D L F-A GD PTS
Besiktas 6 3 3 0 11-5 6 12
Spurs 6 3 2 1 9-4 5 11
Asteras Tripolis 6 1 3 2 7-10 -3 6
Partizan 6 0 2 4 1-9 -8 2
