Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has admitted that Lilywhites fans booing Davinson Sanchez in Saturday's defeat to Bournemouth was unlike anything that he had ever seen in his lengthy career.
The Colombian centre-back has been out of favour in North London this season, but he was thrust into the action against the Cherries when Clement Lenglet came off injured in the first half.
However, Sanchez endured possibly his worst afternoon in a Tottenham shirt, as Matias Vina attacked down his side to level for Bournemouth after Son Heung-min's opener.
In the second 45, Sanchez found himself defending one-on-one against Marcus Tavernier, and the 26-year-old inadvertently poked the ball into Dominic Solanke's path for Bournemouth's second.
Sanchez was subsequently booed by his own supporters, and his disaster class ended before the hour mark as Cristian Stellini hauled him off to the delight of some sections of the home crowd.
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Sanchez's replacement Arnaut Danjuma had seemingly rescued a point for Spurs in the 88th minute, but Bournemouth struck in the fifth minute of added time through Dango Ouattara to seal a dramatic 3-2 triumph.
Speaking to beIN Sports after the five-goal spectacular, Lloris labelled fans' treatment of Sanchez "sad" and admitted that he felt "really bad" for the under-fire defender.
"[The ill treatment of Sanchez] started earlier, it's when he came on the pitch. I've never seen this in my career. I feel really bad for Davinson," the Frenchman said.
"He's a teammate, he's a friend and he's been fighting for the club for many many years now, and it's just sad. The story is sad for the club, for the fans, for the player. It's something you don't want to see in football."
Acting head coach Stellini also called for "unity" and "support" for the Colombia international in his post-game press conference, while also lamenting individual "mistakes" that contributed to his side's downfall.
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"I understand it's a tough moment for everyone and we have to analyse this moment, everyone needs to analyse how important it is to support the player. I take the responsibility for the decision we made," Stellini said.
"I thought it was early in the game to use a striker more because it was the first half and we were one up, so I didn't think it was the moment to change with a striker. After, when we were 2-1 down I thought it was the moment.
"Davinson has to know it was only a tactical decision but we need to support him because it's a tough moment for him and also for all the team. So we have to create unity in our dressing room and in between us, and we will do.
"We have to be perfect in the defensive situation. Today we were not so perfect because we allowed them to score with two mistakes. This is a problem, it's not a tactical problem, it's an individual problem, a mistake."
Tottenham's defeat leaves them fifth in the Premier League table, having missed the chance to leapfrog Manchester United back into the Champions League spots, and the Red Devils hold a three-point lead over the Lilywhites with two games in hand.
Next up for Tottenham is a trip to fellow top-four challengers Newcastle United on April 23.
Ben Knapton
