Result: Royal Antwerp 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Date: 29 October 2020
Venue: Bosuilstadion
Tottenham Hotspur suffered their first defeat in Group J after a shock 1-0 loss to Belgian side Antwerp in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night.
Spurs manager Jose Mourinho shuffled the pack, with only goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and Ben Davies retaining their starting spots from the narrow win over Burnley but there was a chance for the likes of Gareth Bale, Dele Alli and Carlos Vinicius to impress in the line-up.
The hosts were on the front foot in the early exchanges and Pieter Gerkens came the closest to opening the scoring in the 14th minute with a glancing header from a corner that missed just wide of the far post.
Antwerp kept on putting Tottenham under all sorts of pressure and they were rewarded just before the half-hour mark after Diumerci Mbokani took possession away from Davies high up the pitch, played a square ball towards Lior Refaelov, who powered home a strike past Lloris.
The English side were struggling to penetrate a resilient Antwerp defence in the closing phase of the first stanza, with Ivan Leko's men still creating the better chances but they settled for a 1-0 lead going to the break.
Mourinho pressed the panic button at half-time, after bringing on Son Heung-Min, Lucas Moura, Erik Lamela and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg all at once to try and rescue the game.
Spurs almost went two goals down three minutes into the second stanza after Mbokani went clear inside the box after another slip-up at the back, but Davinson Sanchez recovered to make a vital challenge just when the Congolese was about to pull the trigger.
Mbokani should have punished the Lilywhites ten minutes from the break after receiving a square pass unmarked at the back post but his guided his first-time shot over the bar from point-blank range.
Second-half substitute Harry Kane came in for Bale on the hour mark, but they were lucky to still be in the game after Simen Jukleroed when balsted over from close range with only Lloris to beat.
Tottenham were desperate for the equaliser in the dying minutes, but the hosts were outstanding at the back and held on to clinch a famous win that saw them top Group J with a maximum of six points.
