Anderlecht 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Once again, Tottenham Hotspur were left with a sinking feeling from a Europa League away tie that they looked to have in their grip.
After the 1-1 draw at Monaco three weeks ago, when they conceded a late equaliser, they led here against Anderlecht and, during a 10-minute purple patch at the outset, they were in complete command.
How deceptive the impression would prove. On a helter-skelter night, played out in a pulsating atmosphere, Anderlecht cancelled out Christian Eriksen's goal with a Guillaume Gillet blast following a set-piece and, deservedly on the balance of play, collected the points when Stefano Okaka swept home.
Tottenham were left to lament Erik Lamela's failure to convert a one-on-one chance during that early assault and an equally wasteful second-half finish from Harry Kane, who came on as a substitute.
This fixture will forever stir memories of the 1984 Uefa Cup final, in which Tottenham edged past Anderlecht on penalties. It was one of the most famous nights in the club’s history but this one will quickly fade from the memory. Rather abruptly, Tottenham have it all to do in this competition.
Mauricio Pochettino’s line-up had reflected his desire to push for qualification to the knock-out rounds as quickly as possible. He is conscious that the club’s trip to Azerbaijan to face Qarabag in the penultimate group phase tie in late November comes just three days before the home Premier League fixture against Chelsea. It would be understandable if he wanted to spare a few of his regulars the trip to Baku.
As at Monaco, Pochettino swapped his full backs but went almost as strong as he could. Two of his three other changes were enforced, with Clinton Njie coming in for Kane, who had a knock and was fit enough only for the bench, and Andros Townsend replacing the injured Nacer Chadli.
Tottenham quietened the relentless din from the home crowd with the early goal, and what a howler it was from the Anderlecht point of view. Lamela released Eriksen and he attempted to deceive Serigne Mbodji, the last defender, only to be tackled by him.
What happened next was made for the blooper tapes. The ball thwacked into the face of Leander Dendoncker, who was sprinting back towards his own goal, to fall for Eriksen. Mdodji was out of position and Eriksen had the time to stroke his shot low into the bottom corner. It is doubtful that any Tottenham player could have conjured a more precise assist.
Anderlecht heads spun. Moments earlier, Eriksen had snatched at a decent shooting chance and, shortly afterwards, Lamela should have doubled the lead. Following Eric Dier's promptings, Eriksen put Lamela through on Silvio Proto. The goalkeeper, though, thwarted him at close quarters.
Tottenham looked set to dominate but they lost concentration during an Anderlecht corner and the pendulum swung. The ball ran over to the unmarked fullback Gillet – insert Tim Sherwood joke here – and he took an assured touch before lashing through a crowd into the far corner.
Anderlecht boasted the pace of Imoh Ezekiel on the wing and the ferocious shooting power of Okaka, the in-form summer signing from Sampdoria. Twice, the striker worked Hugo Lloris before the interval, fully testing the Tottenham goalkeeper's reflexes on the first occasion.
Pochettino rotated the attacking players behind Njie, who is more suited to a role on the flank but, for the most part, it was Townsend on the right, Eriksen on the left and Lamela as the No 10. Njie ran willingly on his full Tottenham debut and he had a few nice moments but Pochettino was forced to replace him with Kane before he got himself sent off.
Njie was booked for a lunge at Dendoncker – which was borne out of frustration, following a poor touch – and, two minutes later, he swung a high boot at Gillet, who went down. For a second, it looked as though the referee, Pol van Boekel, was running over towards Njie with a purpose but he kept his cards to himself. Pochettino took no chances and hooked him immediately.
It was open and entertaining, with very little of the bad stuff associated with these Thursday night group games. Both teams went for it, with Jan Vertonghen striding out of defence with the ball on more than one occasion in an attempt to fire his team. He slipped a pass through for Lamela on 31 minutes and the attacker put the ball in the net, only to be pulled back for offside.
Kane spurned a glorious one-on-one chance in the 69th minute, when he advanced from the left side to shoot at Proto but it was Anderlecht who looked the more threatening team in the second half, particularly after the introduction of Frank Acheampong.
Acheampong terrorised Kieran Trippier and it was the pacey winger who laid on the winner. His cross from the left was tantalising and when Okaka met it at point-blank range from the goal, he could not and did not miss. Tottenham could not muster a response and Dennis Praet was only denied the third from another Acheampong cross by a fine Lloris save.
(Guardian service)
