LONDON — Tottenham‘s Europa League round-of-16 qualification hopes were dented on Thursday as Mats Hummels‘ 91st-minute goal for Roma earned a point for Claudio Ranieri’s side in an entertaining contest in north London.
Son Heung-Min‘s penalty and Brennan Johnson‘s fine finish looked as though they would be enough to earn victory over the visitors, who had seen three goals ruled out for offside, but the veteran defender’s late leveller handed Roma a deserved point.
The result leaves Spurs ninth in the Europa League table, outside of the automatic qualification spots for the round of 16, while Roma are in 21st and likely set for a place in February’s playoff round.
Spurs got off to the perfect start when Son sent Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar the wrong way from the spot in the fifth minute of the game. Referee Glenn Nyberg had awarded the penalty after the VAR recommended an on-field check for Hummels’ challenge on Pape Matar Sarr as the midfielder darted into the box.
The away side levelled in the 20th minute when defender Evan Ndicka rose highest in the box to head Paulo Dybala‘s free-kick past Fraser Forster.
Stephan El Shaarawy thought he had put Roma in front just two minutes later but his fine volley was ruled after VAR intervened to point out an offside in the build-up.
It proved to be a decisive moment in the game as Spurs restored their lead 10 minutes later when Johnson swept home Dejan Kulusevski‘s low cross from the left to score a goal of real quality.
Ange Postecoglou’s side should have been 3-1 up at the interval when Kulusevski again broke through the Roma defence and saw a shot across goal rebound off the post to the feet of an unmarked Son, only for the Spurs captain to inexplicably fire over the crossbar with the goal at his mercy.
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Despite Dybala’s half-time substitution, Roma continued to provide an attacking threat, twice seeing goals ruled out for offside with summer-signing Artem Dovbyk proving too keen to run beyond the Spurs back line on both occasions.
The chances kept coming for both sides in a high intensity second half. Angelino’s back-post volley deflected off Pedro Porro onto the Spurs crossbar minutes before the Spurs right-back fired a free kick off the woodwork at the opposite end.
Manu Koné then became the latest Roma player to come within inches of an equaliser when his low effort in the 67th minute rolled past the near post with Forster beaten.
The subsequent introduction of James Maddison seemed to provide Spurs with greater control in the centre of the pitch and the home side regained momentum as a result.
The shot count continued to rise, with Dominic Solanke hitting the crossbar with the home side’s 21st of the night in the 81st minute as the game seemed to be petering towards a home victory.
That was until Hummels made up for the penalty he had conceded in the game’s opening stages with his last-gasp intervention.
He was in the right place at the right time to divert Angelino’s powerful low cross into the net from point-blank range, much to the delight of the travelling fans who saw their side pick up a dramatic, and deserved, point after what has been a tumultuous start to the campaign with two managers sacked already.
Spurs travel to Glasgow to face Rangers in their next Europa League fixture on Dec. 12, while Roma host Braga at the Olimpico.
