MX23RW : Sunday, January 19 07:46:16| >> :120:45540:45540:
[monks data]
Attendance: 31,001
Olympiacos
Champions League | Group Stage
Sep 18, 2019 at 5.55pm UK
 
Spurs logo

2-2

Podence (44'), Valbuena (54' pen.)
FT(HT: 1-2)
Kane (26' pen.), Moura (30')

Mauricio Pochettino admits Tottenham Hotspur must improve defensively

Spurs were pegged back by goals from Daniel Podence and Mathieu Valbuena.

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino accepts his side have some hard work to do to cure their defensive woes after shipping a two-goal lead in the Champions League at Olympiacos.

Spurs, who reached last season's final, looked on course to open this term's campaign with a win in Greece after Harry Kane and Lucas Moura struck in the space of four first-half minutes to put them in command.

But just over a fortnight after letting a similar advantage slip against Arsenal, they again capitulated as goals from Daniel Podence and Mathieu Valbuena earned the Greek side a deserved 2-2 draw.

Tottenham's season so far has been beset by an uncharacteristic weakness in defence and Pochettino is determined to put that right.

"In the beginning of this season we are conceding a lot of chances and lots of goals and we need to change that," the Argentinian said. "The only way we can change is being more demanding from ourselves.

"And that is the way we are going to approach the different days and be more consistent.

"Training needs to be harder. Psychologically harder.

"I feel very disappointed, in the first half I wasn't happy with our performance, from the beginning we had a plan and we didn't respect the plan, that is what disappointed me most and that is what I told the players at half-time.

"We scored two goals in my opinion, from the penalty and a good goal from Lucas, but if you only analyse the performance it wasn't great, we conceded a lot of chances to Olympiacos, the way we conceded the first goal was so painful."

Spurs looked back to their best against Crystal Palace on Saturday, but they were unable to reproduce that in one of Europe's most hostile atmospheres.

They endured a torrid opening 20 minutes and could have been behind by the time Kane smashed home his 15th Champions League goal in 20 games from the spot.

Moura's powerful drive from the edge of the area put Spurs in control before Podence's goal on the stroke of half-time allowed Olympiacos back into it.

Valbuena completed the comeback with a 53rd-minute penalty, to leave Spurs licking their wounds.

"We didn't translate from Saturday that aggressiveness that this level of game demands and that is my biggest disappointment," Pochettino added.

"It's everyone's responsibility and it's not possible for, in three days, how we start the game today to be a massive difference. That is my disappointment. I feel disappointed for everyone.

"At half-time we realised it and changed it and in the second half we were a little bit better and we conceded a very soft penalty.

"We created many chances to score, we dominated the second half. Overall, I thought the result was fair."

Olympiacos coach Pedro Martins was happy his side were able to come back from a sticky situation, but was left wanting more.

He said: "We dominated the game. We had more chances, but we paid for two mistakes. We reacted well after that.

"Our reaction was more than positive and we were better.

"Tomorrow critics will say Tottenham didn't play very well, but Olympiacos did play well.

"The draw is good because we came back from 2-0 but at the end we could do better."

ID:371928: cacheID:371928:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4765:
Written by
P A
No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino pictured on August 10, 2019
Read Next:
Mauricio Pochettino challenges Spurs to prove favourites tag
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
FT
Washington
45-31
Lions
8pm
Rams
@
Eagles
11.30pm
Ravens
@
Bills
Tables header RHS

League Phase

TeamPWDLPTS
1Liverpool660018
2Barcelona650115
3B. Leverkusen641113
4Inter Milan641113
5Brest641113
6Arsenal641113
7Aston Villa641113
8Lille641113
9Bayern640212
10Dortmund640212
11Atletico640212
12AC Milan640212
13Atalanta632111
14Juventus632111
15Benfica631210
16Feyenoord631210
17Brugge631210
18Monaco631210
19Sporting Lisbon631210
20Real Madrid63039
21Celtic62319
22Man City62228
23PSV62228
24Dinamo Zagreb62228
25PSG62137
26Stuttgart62137
27Shakhtar61144
28Sparta Prague61144
29Sturm Graz61053
30Girona61053
31Red Star61053
32Salzburg61053
33Bologna60242
34RB Leipzig60060
35Slovan Bratislava60060
36Young Boys60060


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!