Tottenham couldn’t complain about dropping more points in the Europa League. An entertaining contest played out back and forth, with neither team seeming to know how to defend, and Roma earned a deserved draw when Mats Hummels made it 2-2 in added time.
For Claudio Ranieri, back in London and coming out of retirement, it was a moment of joy. He had spent the night bouncing around in his technical area, with poor finishing from his struggling team leading him to distraction. Roma, whose hopes of reaching the Europa League round of 16 remain in doubt, trailed thanks to a Son Heung-Min penalty and a Brennan Johnson goal. But Spurs failed to control the match and Ange Postecoglou’s men still have work to do.
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Outstanding in demolishing Manchester City last weekend and downright sleepy in losing to Ipswich Town in their previous home game, it was impossible to know what Spurs would produce against opponents ranked 12th in Serie A and already to their third manager of the season.
Yet with Postecoglou making just four changes ahead of Fulham’s visit on Sunday, hints at the kind of night that would soon materialize. A second-minute attack led by Dejan Kulusevski split Roma and although Glenn Nyberg rebuffed calls for a penalty when Hummels clipped the Spurs midfielder, the referee changed his mind after checking the monitor at edge of the field.
Soon trailing Son’s kick, Roma turned to Paulo Dybala. The Argentine striker, no longer the next big thing but still extremely dangerous, missed a good chance and then tried to lob Fraser Forster from the halfway line. Yet when Angeliño fired a corner towards the original taker, Ranieri perhaps wondered why he had accepted a third term in charge of Roma.
Much of the 73-year-old’s optimism had to come from Dybala, who threatened again when he evaded Archie Gray and forced Forster to smother, but Roma were also in control. Their 3-4-3 system troubled Spurs and the equalizer arrived in the 20th minute, Evan Ndicka rising to volley a Dybala free-kick into the far corner.
Now Roma, who were denied the lead when Stephan El Shaarawy’s goal was disallowed, were experiencing some of the magic that Ranieri spread over Leicester in 2016. Dybala was running the show and he took a solo dribble before almost squeezing a low shot past Forster. Up front, Artem Dovbyk occupied Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies.
Yet the Spurs responded, with Johnson having a shot cleared off the line after poor goalkeeping from Mile Svilar. Then came Kulusevski, running on a long ball down the left, taking Hummels away from the center. Hummels was unable to stop the Swede and when the cross was delivered, Johnson was there to score with an emphatic finish.
The goal seemed to shake Roma’s spirit. They should have been further ahead at halftime, only for Kulusevski to hit the woodwork and Son to blast home the rebound.
Spurs could only be encouraged by Dybala, presumably injured, making way for Matías Soulé at half-time. Instead, Roma started the second half well, with Manu Koné dominating the midfield, and it took the linesman twice to raise his flag at Dovbyk for offside to deny them a second equalizer. Memories of Son testing Svilar with a curling effort were beginning to fade.
Roma were having fun with their full-backs pushing higher. Another chance presented itself when Zeki Celik found space on the right and crossed for Angeliño, whose volley was deflected and hit the bar.
It was time for Spurs to wake up and they did so when an adventurous run from Davies ended with him being brought down on the edge of the area. Porro took the free kick but whipped it narrowly. Dominic Solanke then broke down on the left, only for Leandro Paredes to prevent the striker’s cross from reaching Johnson.
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The action remained open and Roma tried again when Koné placed a low shot. Their shooting had to be better to worry Forster in the 36-year-old goalkeeper’s first outing, replacing Gugliemo Vicario, who faces a long absence after breaking his ankle.
Frustration grew for Ranieri, who felt Rodrigo Bentancur should have seen more than yellow for clashing with Roma substitute Alexis Saelemaekers. Solanke headed against a post but Spurs still needed Forster to deny Dovbyk after some horrible defending from Porro.
It looked like Spurs had done enough when Forster produced a superb volley save from Gianluca Mancini. However, as the match progressed into stoppage time, Roma pressed again and Hummels arrived at the far post to convert Angeliño’s cross.