Former Celtic and Chelsea striker Chris Sutton admits that he can understand Tottenham Hotspur’s frustration in having their goal against Sporting CP disallowed.
Sutton was rightly critical of Tottenham’s first-half performance against their Portuguese opponents, labelling it as ‘woeful’ in a half which saw former Spurs player Marcus Edwards give his side the lead following some poor defending from the defence and Hugo Lloris’ positioning allowed the ball to nestle into the bottom corner of the net.
Tottenham were off the pace in the opening period with Sporting looking the sharper of the two sides, while only Harry Kane looked capable of providing a spark of creativity to get his side back into the fixture.
The 49-year-old believes Spurs face a tough task when they travel to Marseille on Tuesday evening where they require a draw to book their place in the last sixteen of the Champions League.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live (26/10/22 – 22:00): “It was absolute bedlam in the stadium when the goal went in. Conte got involved with the celebrations, he was running down the touchline. The place went wild.
“I get the unhappiness on the decision because the more I look at it, the more it looks onside. But Spurs were so passive in the first half and so way off it. Had they started the game like they played in the second half, this would have been so one-sided.
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“In the second half they were incredible. But that’s a big moment because they’ve got to go to Marseille which is a really hostile place and get a result. They are under pressure.
“There are a couple of things Conte will be unhappy about, mostly the VAR decision but Spurs were woeful in the first half.”
SpursWeb Opinion
Tottenham need to start their matches with more energy and especially not allow their heads to drop after conceding. If Conte’s side had played anywhere like they did in the last half hour of the match for the previous hour, they would have comfortably beaten Sporting.
Spurs cannot afford the same slow start in Marseille which is likely to be a cauldron-like atmosphere with the French side needing a win to progress.
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