VAR drama kills off Kane's fairytale finish as Spurs fume

Striker's injury-time winner is chalked off and Conte's side must now take at least a point from final game in Marseille

Wed, 26 Oct, 2022 - 22:58

Gerry Cox

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 SPORTING CLUBE DE PORTUGAL 1

FOR THE SECOND time in three days the final whistle at Tottenham was greeted with loud booing, but instead of being aimed at the team, this was directed at Dutch referee Danny Makkelie, who denied Harry Kane a last-minute winner that would have put Spurs into the last 16 of the Champions League.

Makkelie had originally allowed Kane's effort in the fifth minute of stoppage time, as Spurs fought back valiantly after going behind to a superb strike from their former trainee Marcus Edwards. Rodrigo Bentancur equalised in the 80th minute, and with time running out, Kane thought he had scored, only for Makkelie to signal that VAR had ruled the goal offside, even though the final touch before Kane had come from a Sporting player.

Antonio Conte's protests were so vehement that he was given a red card, and when the final whistle went seconds later, after a dramatic and frantically entertaining game, Spurs were still top of Group D and need only to avoid defeat in Marseille next week in order to reach the knockout stages.

Conte made six changes from the side that had lost 2-1 to Newcastle here on Sunday, bringing back Cristian Romero and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, and giving a first start of the season to Lucas Moura, the hero of their semi-final victory in Amsterdam three years ago.

Matt Doherty also returned at right wing-back, but one of Sporting's first chances was when the Dubliner give the ball away to the dangerous Nuno Santos. Sebastian Coates then went forward for a corner and headed over the bar when he should have scored.

But Tottenham had chances too. Kane put Moura through on goal, but when the Brazilian tried to take the ball around Antonio Adan unsuccessfully, he was flagged offside anyway.

Sporting were more controlled going forward, and always looked dangerous on the break. And so it proved when Edwards put them ahead in the 22nd minute. The diminutive forward had famously been compared by former Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino as a mini-Messi when he was a teenager at Tottenham, and showed why when he scored. Picking up the ball close to the halfway line, he dribbled towards goal, exchanged passes with Paulinho and then drilled a low shot with his left foot into the far corner of goal from 25 yards, leaving Hugo Lloris stranded.

It was a hammer blow for Spurs, and Edwards' delight was matched by Sporting's supporters, who let off a green flare in celebration.

When the smoke cleared, Tottenham tried to get back into the game. Heung Min Son, still struggling for goals, fired in a low shot that Adan saved shortly before half-time and then did the same after the break, as Spurs increased their intensity levels. Kane, Hojbjerg and Son combined on a quick break but Adan kept them at bay, also stopping a Kane shot on the turn and an effort from Romero.

The keeper got down to save one-handed when Doherty controlled a deep cross from Ivan Perisic and shot towards goal, and then tipped over a header from Moura.

As Tottenham poured forward they left themselves vulnerable to quick counter-attacks from Sporting. Substitute Flavio Nazinho had two chances in quick succession, denied first by a superb stop from Lloris, and then shooting wide with the goal at his mercy.

With ten minutes remaining, Tottenham's pressure told as they equalised. Perisic fired in a corner from the right and Bentancur rose high in the centre of the penalty area to head home.

The noise levels went up another notch, and Spurs went all out for victory. Dier glanced one header wide from a corner, another agonisingly past the far post from Son's beautifully curled free-kick and then a third wide from Clement Lenglet's cross.

It was fast and furious, the action going from one end to the other at pace. Lloris saved another long-range shot, and then Adan spilled a fizzer from Son, only for Bentancur to put the loose ball over the bar.

The drama was not over. Deep into stoppage time, Perisic sent in one final deep cross, Emerson Royal headed goalwards and when the ball deflected off Nazinho, Kane smashed it in from close range.

Conte celebrated wildly on the touchline, as the players and supporters rose to cheer what they believed to be the winning goal.

But Makkelie had other ideas, and instead of celebrating qualification, Tottenham face a nervy final game in the south of France next week.

TOTTENHAM (3-4-3): Lloris 7; Romero 7, Dier 7, Davies 6 (Lenglet 81); Doherty 6 (Gil 71) , Hojbjerg 7, Bentancur 8, Perisic 7; Son 7, Kane 8, Lucas Moura 6 (Emerson Royal 81)

SPORTING (3-4-2-1): Adan 9; Inacio 6, Coates 7, Reis 6; Porro 6, Morita 6 (Mateus 61), Ugarte 6, Nuno Santos 6 (Nazinho 71); Trincao 7 (Gomes71), Paulinho 6 (St Juste 75); Edwards 7 (Issahaku 71)

Ref: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands) 6/10

CONNECT WITH US TODAY