Mauricio Pochettino: 'I’m happy with the performance, but disappointed by the result. We need to go to Florence and win the game'

Published: 20 February, 2015
by DAN CARRIER at White Hart Lane

Europa League
SPURS 1, FIORENTINA 1

SPURS have given themselves a Europa League mountain to climb after only managing a one-all draw against Italian side Fiorentina at White Hart Lane last night (Thursday).

Now Mauricio Pochettino’s charges will have to travel to Italy in seven days’ time and win the game – with one eye understandably on the Capital One Cup Final, three days later at Wembley.

Pochettino’s team dominated the first half but after conceding a sloppy equaliser saw their visitors grow in confidence and eventually the side from Florence looked good for their score draw. After the game, Pochettino lamented Spurs’ inability to kill off the tie when they were on top.

He said: “I think we deserved more. We created more chances in the first half and dominated the opening 45.”

He added that he did not blame the players for letting Fiorentina score what could be a very costly away goal. He added: “I’m happy with the performance, but disappointed by the result. We need to go to Florence and win the game.”

He had every right to be disappointed, as it started so well.

On five minutes, Nacer Chadli won a corner after forcing Fiorentina keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu into a sprawling stop. The resulting cross from Paulinho was met sweetly by Roberto Soldado and his volley flew into the bottom corner.

It nearly got better just five minutes later when the Spanish striker athletically sent an overhead kick goalwards from a Christian Eriksen cross.

It was all Tottenham, as Paulinho, Eriksen and Chadli forced Tatarusanu into some desperate shot-stopping as Pochettino’s men seemed hell-bent on winning the two-legged tie within the first half-hour.

But things did not go to plan. On 36, Nabil Bentaleb gave away a cheap free-kick on the left, the ball was driven in and, after an unseemly scramble, Jose Maria Basanta reacted well to stab the ball home from a yard out.

While Spurs huffed and puffed to force a winner, Fiorentina were content to defend in numbers and threaten on the break. In a second half, the closest Spurs went to scoring was via a Chadli cross no one was on hand to turn in, and a Soldado back-header that went wide.

The result leaves Pochettino’s men with a big task in Italy. Fiorentina will surely be favourites now to progress.

SPURS: Lloris, Walker, Fazio, Vertonghen, Davies, Chadli, (Kane, 64), Eriksen, Bentaleb, Paulinho (Mason, 83), Townsend (Lamela, 72), Soldado.
Subs: Vorm, Rose, Lamela, Dier, Kane, Dembele, Mason.

SPURS COMMENT by Dan Carrier

POCHETTINO rang the changes, with Ben Davies, Paulinho, Chadli, Townsend and Soldado coming in. It sent a message that he had one eye on Sunday’s visit from West Ham – despite the players having had more than a week to recover from the Liverpool defeat.

The stand-ins started brilliantly, but Tottenham’s age-old problem of dominating games then shooting themselves in the foot happened once more. Perhaps Poch’ should have started with his strongest XI and tried to put some goals in the bank to allow him to rest players next week. Now he’ll need to go hell for leather in Tuscany – just three days before meeting Chelsea at Wembley. It was a brave selection gamble that simply didn’t come off.