Tottenham Hotspur fall to Champions League defeat against Young Boys
Tottenham Hotspur are still in with a chance of progressing to the lucrative UEFA Champions League group stage despite losing 3-2 in the first leg of their play-off stage tie against Swiss side Young Boys.
After a horrific opening for Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, which saw Senad Lulic, Henri Bienvenu and Xavier Hochstrasser put Young Boys three goals ahead in the first 30 minutes, centre-back Sebastien Bassong pulled one back before half-time and striker Roman Pavluychenko grabbed a crucial second away goal late on for the English Premier League club.
Spurs had not appeared in Europe’s top club football competition since they reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in the 1960-61 season. After they were paired against Young Boys in the draw, hopes were high that Redknapp’s men could make their first impact in the Champions League group stage.
Four changes
Redknapp made four changes to the side which started Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Manchester City in the English Premier League. In came Bassong, midfielder Wilson Palacios, winger Giovani dos Santos and Pavlyuchenko for Ledley King, Tom Huddlestone, Aaron Lennon and Peter Crouch in like-for-like changes as Redknapp tested an adventurous 4-4-2 formation. Young Boys, meanwhile, made a single change from their 1-0 win over Fenerbache in the previous round with Xavier Hochstrasser coming in for Emiliano Dudar.
Indeed, Spurs had lost much of the passion and drive they had shown in the pulsating draw against City at the weekend as they failed to get to grips with the artificial surface in Bern.
Lulic fired an early warning shot when his shot from the edge of the box beat Heurelho Gomes but bounced off the post. However, Spurs didn’t adapt to the threat and soon found themselves one down after just four minutes when Lulic tucked away the ball from eight yards out.
Spurs had a chance to level when dos Santos burst through the opposition defence to face Marco Wolfli one-on-one, but the Young Boys goalkeeper manager to block the Mexican international’s effort. That missed chance came back to haunt Spurs after 13 minutes of action, when Pavlyuchenko gave the ball away to Thierry Doubai. The Ivorian threaded a neat pass to Bienvenu, who burst past Spurs defender Michael Dawson to double the advantage.
Three goals up
Things got worse for the visitors after Moreno Costanzo laid on a pass for Hochstrasser who struck at the target. Gomes attempted a save a little too early and Young Boys were three up against the favourites for the tie.
Sensing the need to press for an away goal, Redknapp replaced defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto with midfielder Huddlestone after just 35 minutes. That move proved to be a smart one as Spurs soon found themselves back in the game when Bassong powered home a header from a Gareth Bale corner after 42 minutes.
The second half proved a much calmer affair, but Young Boys looked more likely to score throughout with Bienvenu heading over and Christian Schneuwly twice firing over the bar. However, Spurs gave themselves a lifeline when Pavlyuchenko, who had been disappointing throughout, smashed the ball into the top corner, leaving Spurs needing to find just a single goal in the return match.
After the match, Spurs captain for the night Dawson said his side were still confident of progressing. He told reporters that: "The first half hour wasn't good enough, but we stuck together and sorted it out and half time. We can't make excuses, we were slow out of the blocks and we're disappointed. When you concede so early it's difficult and we didn't react well. Harry Redknapp wasn't happy at half-time, but we go back to White Hart Lane full of confidence we can still go through."
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