Tottenham will need a result in Marseille next week to guarantee a place in the Champions League knockouts after being held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Sporting Lisbon.
Spurs thought they had booked their place in the last-16 as group winners when Harry Kane scooped home from close range in stoppage-time but the effort was ruled out by the VAR for a fractional offside, leaving Antonio Conte incandescent.
The Italian was shown a red card for his protests and it was easy to understand why he was so angry.
The call was marginal, with Kane’s knee appearing just beyond the last man, and a win would have left next Tuesday’s game at the Stade Velodrome as a dead rubber, giving Conte a much-needed chance to rest the likes of Kane, Heung-min Son and Eric Dier.
As it is, Spurs will need to beat the French side to be guaranteed to finish as group winners, although a draw may be enough depending on Eintracht Frankfurt’s result against Sporting.
It leaves Spurs facing another high-intensity mid-week match and offers Conte no chance to keep his preferred XI fresh for the League games against Liverpool and Leeds.
This was a third game without a win following the defeats to Manchester United and Newcastle, and Spurs are limping towards the World Cup in a worrying dip in form.
While Spurs could feel hard done by, they only had themselves to blame after another below-par first half against the Portuguese side.
Former Spurs academy player Marcus Edwards fired the visitors in front with an excellent low finish, knocking the stuffing out of Conte’s side who only really got going after the break.
Rodrigo Bentancur deservedly headed them level from a corner but they could not find a way past goalkeeper Antonio Adan until Kane sparked scenes of wild celebration with what he thought was the late winner.
Edwards settles scores
Edwards scored, and perhaps settled some scores, on a triumphant return to Tottenham.
Edwards will have returned to Spurs with a point to prove after leaving his boyhood club after just one appearance and with a sense that both parties could have done more to make the relationship work.
Although he never came close to fulfilling his obvious potential at Spurs, Portugal is proving the making of Edwards and he reminded his former employer what could have been with an excellent opening goal.
The 23-year-old skipped away from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg on the edge of the centre circle and sprinted into the space ahead before arrowing a brilliant left-foot finish into the far bottom corner. It was a fine strike but Spurs gave Edwards far too much space, with Cristian Romero particularly guilty of backing off and turning his back on the shot.
Edwards was lively until he was replaced around the hour, and this time will leave north London with a sense of vindication.
Gil catches the eye
An unexpected positive for Spurs was the performance of Bryan Gil, who caught the eye in a bright 30-minute cameo to suggest he deserves more game-time in future.
Conte has largely ignored the Spanish winger this season, even during the absence of Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison, and a rusty Lucas Moura started ahead of him against Sporting.
While Lucas offered little and did not look on the same wavelength as his teammates, Gil injected some much-needed verve into the final third, and caused Sporting problems with his direct running and ability to change direction. He won the corner from which Spurs equalised and looked among the likeliest players to make something happen.
Conte has doubts about Gil’s ability to play in the Premier League, where he is still yet to feature this season, and clearly he is not a finished product, evidenced by a number of overhit crosses here.
Still, he has potential and can make things happen, so at least until Kulusevski and Richarlison return the 21-year-old is surely a better option than Lucas.
