Spurs suffered their second defeat in the Europa Conference League
Peter Crouch and Glenn Hoddle slammed Davinson Sanchez for his defending as Tottenham Hotspur lost to Slovenian side Mura FC in the Europa Conference League.
Antonio Conte’s men suffered their second loss in Group G of the Europa Conference League on Thursday night as Slovenian first division side Mura scored in the last second of the tie to secure a memorable home victory.
The home side went ahead in the 11th minute through Tomi Horvat, with things going from bad to worse for Spurs as Ryan Sessegnon received a second yellow and consequently a red card before the half-time break.
Spurs captain Harry Kane levelled proceedings with around 20 minutes to go, but the drama was far from over as Ante Šimundža’s side scored in added-time to send the home fans into frenzy.
Despite Amadej Marosa’s strike taking a deflection before it looped over Pierluigi Gollini’s head, Sanchez’s defending for the goal – and during the game in general – was far from convincing.
Speaking to BT Sport after the match, former Spurs duo Crouch and Hoddle labelled the 25-year-old’s defending as ‘dreadful’.
"A magical Mura night!"
Absolute scenes in Slovenia as the hosts win it with the last kick of the match!! 🔥🔥#UECL pic.twitter.com/mCpZq0ZG4S
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 25, 2021
"We've all represented the club… it's a shocking night!"@jjenas8, @petercrouch and Glenn Hoddle discuss Spurs' last minute defeat to Mura and where the result leaves them in their Europa Conference League group.#UECL pic.twitter.com/i37VihwfW9
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 25, 2021
“If this was a 16-year-old defender, you do it twice maybe, but he did exactly the same thing,” said Hoddle.
“He’s allowed the player to come inside, we spoke about it at half-time.”
Crouch added: “I said ‘come inside him’, because he did it in the first-half, he goes to sleep. He’s trying to shepherd him down the line, he turned the wrong way again, it’s awful defending.”
The 64-year-old Hoddle then questioned why Sanchez allowed the Mura man to cut inside of him, insisting that he failed to read the situation.
He said: “If it’s a 15-year-old you say ‘you can’t do that again’, but he’s done it again and forgotten about what happened in the first-half.
“I just cannot understand for the life of my why he’s allowed him to come inside, he’s not read the situation in a vital time in the game.”
The defeat is Conte’s first as Spurs manager since he arrived at the club, meaning that the London outfit need to win against Rennes in the final group stage fixture on December 9 to secure progression into the knockout stages.
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