Tottenham Hotspur lose away, while Liverpool draw to 10-men at home
After a fairly successful mid-week for English teams in the Champions League, with two wins and two draw, all eyes turned to Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in Thursday night’s Europa League competition.
Spurs traveled to Belgium to take on Anderlecht, who famously came from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with their North London rivals, Arsenal, last season in the Champions League.
For Liverpool, they had a favourable home tie against Rubin Kazan, with Jurgen Klopp making his Anfield debut.
Tottenham Defeat in Belgium
It was Spurs who kicked off the double-header and after just four minutes, it looked like it would be a successful night for Mauricio Pochettino‘s men.
Christian Eriksen got some luck with deflections, but after the ball fell at his feet in front of goal, he made no mistake by slotting home to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead.
It should have been more for Spurs with guilt-edge chances missed by Eriksen and Erik Lamela.
However, it was then 1-1 as the hosts leveled after a corner found Guillaume Gillet at the far post, who had time to control and fire past Hugo Lloris.
The game was won by Anderlecht in the 75th minute when a low-cross fell to Stefano Okaka, who converted high into the net past the helpless Lloris.
The result leaves Group I in the balance, with AS Monaco on five points, Spurs and Anderlecht on four and FK Qarabag on three.
Frustrations for Klopp
The stage was set at Anfield for Jurgen Klopp’s home debut, but it didn’t go as planned.
A routine win was predicted for the Reds, but after 15-minutes they found themselves behind when Marko Devic superbly turned home past Simon Mignolet to give Rubin Kazan a shock lead.
However, the game turned on it’s head in a 60-second spell.
Firstly, Kazan‘s captain Oleg Kuzmin received a second-yellow and was sent off, which lead to a free-kick which was then bundled home by Emre Can just shy of the 40-minute mark.
Despite having the man advantage for the rest of the match, Liverpool couldn’t score the winner, with Christian Benteke coming the closest when he hit the post.
A frustrating and disappointing night at Anfield for Klopp.
The draw leaves Liverpool second in Group B on three points. Sion are the shock league-leaders on seven, while Bordeux and Kazan are both on two.
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
