Lucas Bergvall's first-half own goal saw Tottenham fall to defeat in Alkmaar
AZ Alkmaar deserved the victory and might think they deserved more
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Well, it isn't over. Tottenham remain in the tie and that is the only positive factor Ange Postecoglou can take by way of solace from a trip to the Netherlands where his mission to save the season in the Europa League kicked off with a performance as flat as the landscape.
His team did not register an effort on target against AZ Alkmaar until the 88th minute when a mishit cross by Wilson Odobert fell dropped into that empty category thanks to the generosity of UEFA's statisticians.
The only other one was the freakish own goal by Lucas Bergvall which settled the first leg in favour of the Dutch team who should feel aggrieved not to lead by more.
There were missed chances they will rue if they go out in the second leg, when Spurs will be without Rodrigo Bentancur, who will be suspended after a yellow card. Dominic Solanke might be a doubt, too. Solanke made his return after seven weeks out with a knee injury but hobbled off 20 minutes later in discomfort after landing heavily on his back.
'Hopefully nothing too bad,' was Postecoglou's verdict but long-suffering fans might wish they had given up hope for lent. At the end, they took their frustration out on goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario who was trying to lift their spirits without success.
'We didn't really come to grips and have the right mindset to tackle an away fixture in Europe,' said Postecoglou. 'It's always tough and we obviously conceded the goal, which was a disappointing set of events but even after that we didn't really settle down into the game at all.
'You are going to face some pressure when you play away from home in Europe and weather the storm and get to grips with it, but we never really did so that was a disappointment.'
Postecoglou grumbled about the pitch but also accused his team of lacking 'aggression' and being too 'hesitant'. And captain Son Heung-min said it was 'sloppy' and 'nowhere near good enough' and 'a big wake up call ahead of the biggest game of our season next week'.
Tottenham found themselves behind inside 18 minutes. And the home fans were bouncing up and down, singing the name of their former Spurs striker Troy Parrott, who played his part in a goal that will go down against Bergvall.
Parrott was lurking beyond the back post to meet a deep corner. He tried to help it back across goal on the volley but did not catch it clean, miscued and scuffed it down into the ground, which seemed to confuse Bergvall who sliced an attempted clearance off the outside of his right boot.
The ball swerved up towards his own goal over goalkeeper Vicario and Djed Spence on the line.
AZ were content to let the visitors dominate the ball and sought to hit them quickly on the turnover with slick passing combinations and speedy wingers Ernest Poku and Denso Karius.
They should have scored again before half time when Karius outpaced Son on a run from his own half before releasing Parrott, clean through on goal. There was no flag, but Vicario came to the rescue, dashing out to close the angles and make a fine save.
More disappointing was that Spurs created so little going forward. AZ centre-halves Wouter Goes and Alexandre Penetra easily neutralised Mathys Tel, who is struggling to make any impact as a centre forward.
Tel was replaced at half time by Wilson Odobert who briefly offered extra menace because his threat to run in behind created space for the creative midfielders.
Bergvall advanced into space and lashed a shot narrowly wide. Odobert linked up with Son, whose finish was disappointingly wild. Clearer chances came and went, meanwhile, at the other end. Poku forced another save from Vicario and then skied a decent chance presented by a rare mistake on the ball by Archie Gray.
Penetra had another shot deflected wide before Postecoglou made a triple change, which included the return of Solanke but his night ended in pain, there would be no late leveller and Spurs have work to do on Thursday in London.
MATCH FACTS AND RATINGS
AZ ALKMAAR (4-2-3-1): Owusu-Oduro 6; Maikuma 6, Goes 7, Penetra 7.5, Moller Wolfe 6.5; Clasie 7, Koopmeiners 8; Poku 7.5 (Belic 81), Buurmeester 7 (Sadiq 81), Lahdo (Kasius 9, 7 (Smit 66, 6)); Parrott 7 (Van Duijn 81).
Subs: Belic, Daal, Dekker, Martins Indi, Verhulst, Zoet, De Wit.
Goals: Bergvall OG 18.
Bookings: Koopmeiners, Poku,
Manager: Maarten Martens 7
SPURS (4-3-3-): Vicario 7; Spence 6.5, Gray 6, Danso 6, Udogie 5.5 (Porro 72, 6); Bergvall 5.5, Bentancur 6, Maddison 6 (Sarr 72, 5); Johnson 5.5, Tel 4.5 (Odobert 46, 6), Son 5 (Solanke 72, 5.5 (Scarlett 90)).
Subs: Austin, Whiteman, Van de Ven, Bissouma, Moore, Romero.
Bookings: Bentancur
Manager: Ange Postecoglou 5
Ref: Rade Obrenovic (Slovenia) 6.5