Tottenham Hotspur dropped points Roma leveled the game in extra time to nab a point in the fifth fixtures of the Europa League group stage on Thursday.
Taking on a struggling Roma side — who hadn’t won away from home in eight months and hadn’t won a fixture since Oct. 31 — Spurs got the first goal in the first five minutes.
Winning an advantage after Heung-min Son was fouled on the left side of the pitch, the ball was played to the opposite side for Pedro Porro to deliver a low-driven ball into the middle of the box as Pape Sarr came running to the ball. Going 50/50 on the ball with Mats Hummels, Sarr got the first touch before being fouled in the box by Hummels.
Initially ruled no penalty, the head referee went to the monitor and denied that Sarr got the touch first before the foul and awarded Spurs a penalty kick. Son stepped up and buried his first penalty of the season by sending the Roma keeper the wrong way.
Roma responded well after the early mishap as a stretch in the early 20 minutes saw the Italian side level the game on a free kick header by Evan Ndicka. The free kick was awarded after Radu Dragusin shoved a Roma attacker while the two went for the ball.
Roma believed they had taken the lead a mere two minutes left after Paulo Dybala and Stephan El Shaarawy connected on a volley goal. But El Shaarawy was narrowly ruled offside before his terrific strike.
Both sides struggled at times to keep possession of the ball, and with Spurs needing to break Roma’s press, they did just so in the 34th minute on a great break.
Archie Gray recovered the ball well, led Sarr into the open field for a quick turn, and sprayed the ball down the left flank so that Dejan Kulusevksi could run upon and break with his favored left foot. Letting the break develop as Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson filled the flanks, Kulusevksi hit a low driven cross on his left for the streaking Johnson to arrive in front of the six for an open strike to beat the keeper near post.
Roma proved to be the better side in the second half as they fought until the final seconds to get that equalizer.
Roma had two goal chances from Artem Dovbyk called back as the Ukrainian striker was offside on his assist and narrowly offside on his strike that would have given Roma a 3-2 lead.
Spurs’ most significant chances came from Solanke missing a break earlier on a 5-on-2 break, a miss to James Maddison (as the striker went for a near-post strike), and a ball hitting the post.
Roma equalized with a late goal in 90+1 from Hummels as a defensive lapse off a corner kick and play in the box, allowed Hummels to sit back post and tap in a cross around the defense.
Spurs’ next game will be on Sunday as they host Fulham. Happy Thanksgiving, all, and sorry for missing a lot of details. Enjoy the holiday