Disappointment for Tottenham, and although they’re probably still favourites to go through to the last 16, that defeat could prove to be harmful. The first half was absolutely dreadful, but Spurs were excellent for 15 minutes in the second period – until Gent scored. And then they just couldn’t rouse themselves. And in fact, Gent’s lead could have been greater had Lloris not made an excellent save to deny Milicevic late on. Gent were very good – organised, rigorous, hard-working – and Perbet took his goal well, but Spurs’ performance in the last 30 minutes should give Pochettino cause for alarm. They have work to do in the second leg.
That’s it from me. Thanks for reading!
Updated
Full-time: Gent 1-0 Tottenham
That’s it! And Gent record a fine victory.
90 min +3 Eriksen works a yard of space on the edge of the box, and spanks it into orbit. Groan.
90 min +2 Sensible defending from Gershon to head it back to Kalinic. Gent have been really organised since the goal. Spurs just can’t create that chance.
90 min Four minutes of added time. Still a chance for Spurs. Eriksen looks to play in Son, but the Korean didn’t read the pass, and it’s through for a goal kick.
89 min Kalinic comes right to the edge of his box and has to head clear. Good, if slightly eccentric, goalkeeping.
88 min Spurs are really pushing now. But is it too late? The visitors are camped in the Gent half. Nkoudou goes down the left, but waits and waits … and is dispossessed. Goal kick.
87 min Eriksen crosses from the right, and it nearly falls to Kane in the box, but Gigot does really well to win the second ball and smack it clear.
86 min Fair play to Gent: they were on the ropes at the start of the half, but they’ve shown a steely determination, and they’ve defended stoutly since the goal.
85 min Great run from Dele, and a lovely little jab through the defence, but Son was a yard offside. In any case, the Gent defenders came back to block.
83 min Nkoudou gives a really sloppy pass in his own half, and Gent win the throw. Spurs don’t look at their best right now.
82 min Walker crosses from the right, but the whistle goes for some Spurs pushing. Gent edging closer to a famous victory.
80 min Well, now we have a football match! The football in the first half was rotten to the core, but it’s really warmed up, and this should be a rollicking last 10 minutes. Eriksen hits one with pace, but it’s just over the bar.
78 min Spurs just can’t get back into the match. Gent are looking increasingly confident. Another change for the hosts: Asare is replaced by Gershon. And for Spurs, Christian Eriksen is on for Winks. Both teams have now made all three substitutions.
76 min Some flabby defending from Spurs as Gent look to counter, and Milicevic smacks one off the woodwork! Oh, Tottenham were fortunate. In fact, that was a superb save from Lloris! Milicevic had time and space, and hit one from 20 yards, but Lloris did really well to get down and push it on to the post. Great stop from the Spurs captain.
74 min Double change for Gent: Simon is replaced by Kalu, and Perbet, the goalscorer, goes off to warm applause. He’s replaced by Coulibaly.
73 min Dele is booked for a minor infraction.
72 min Kane goes down right on the edge of the box, centrally, under challenge from Mitrovic, but the ref says no! That looked like a trip from the Gent defender.
Updated
70 min Mitrovic heads over from the corner! The angle was tight, and it would have been difficult to beat Lloris in any case, but the Spurs marking was slack. Another Spurs change: Georges-Kévin N’Koudou on for Sissoko.
69 min Asare plays it in, and Alderweireld heads behind for a corner. Gent couldn’t get another, could they?
67 min And now Pochettino makes a move: Son is on, Dembele off.
64 min Football, eh! Spurs had looked really good in that opening 15 minutes of the half, but they switched off as Milicevic went through, and got punished. Obviously that goal isn’t terminal, but it presents an extra layer of complexity for the visitors. And that’s great defending from Ben Davies to stop Perbet getting a second! Gent have really perked up.
Updated
62 min Spurs free kick 25 yards out, and this is a clear shooting chance. Dier takes it, and it’s well wide.
60 min Crazy. Spurs had had all the play, but suddenly Gent went up the other end, Milicevic went clear in the inside-left channel as Spurs got their defensive line all wrong, and he fed Perbet, who lashed home after a lucky ricochet. Moses Simon was in an offside position on the goalline as the ball went in, but he let it go through his legs, and none of the Spurs players seemed to protest. What a big goal!
GOAL! Gent 1-0 Tottenham (Perbet 59)
Well! Tottenham had started the second half like a train, but Gent take the lead against the run of play!
Updated
57 min Fabulous skill from Dele in the area after good work from Kyle Walker, but he’s just hustled out of it by a posse of Gent defenders.
56 min This game’s increasingly being played in Gent’s half. Tottenham are on top.
54 min Walker is booked for a foul on Saief.
Updated
51 min Tottenham really knocking at the door now. This is miles better! Kane nearly gets on to the end of a defensive blunder, and Dembele, I think it was, is just forced to hurry his shot, and it’s out for a goal kick. At the other end, Milicevic hits a bouncing ball a couple of feet wide.
Updated
50 min Now Dembele hits a left-footer from 20 yards, which Kalinic nearly fumbles. In tactical news, Sissoko has gone over to the left side, and Spurs look like they’ve gone to a back three.
49 min Oh, Kane! Off the post! Dele went into the box, went to ground under challenge from two Gent defenders, and the ball fell to Kane, who turned sharply and, with his left foot, dinged a shot off the post! Unlucky Spurs – this is much better already!
46 min We’re back. Incidentally, and away from football, Donald Trump is holding the most extraordinary press conference right now. You’ve got to watch:
Updated
OK, we’re nearly ready to go again, and the good thing is, the second half can’t possibly be worse than the first. Dele had a really good shot that whistled just wide after about 20 minutes, but that was pretty much it. Things can only get better.
Some half-time emails, and we’re all losing our minds:
Robin Hazelhurst: “Definitely in favour of Gent being spelled without the H – much more punnable (this may not be a good thing). Peter Oh’s Gents’ Club made me think, for example, that if these two sides played for a 0-0 because it suited them both, would it be Gents’ agreement? Is a Belgian striker who doesn’t dive a real Gent? Etc and so on.”
Jeremiah: “In Flanders, the English club Watford is known as Whatfor.”
Rob Jacques: “Has Gigot been nutmegged or roasted yet?”
Updated
45 min No stoppage time, and that’s the whistle. That was deeply, punishingly boring. Join me again in 15 minutes!
42 min In lieu of anything of note happening on the pitch, Colin Lecky has some travel trips: “I was in Ghent on Sunday, en route to a family holiday in Center Parcs (still here, since you ask – just polished off a rather unappetising bowl of nachos in the faux-Mexican themed restaurant). Had no idea Spurs were playing there four days later, what with them not being very famous and this being the Europa League and so on, but it’s a lovely old medieval town in which I can thoroughly recommend the Fondue Huis on Vrijdagsmarkt Square for any Spurs fans looking for a bite to eat later on.”
Nachos in Center Parcs! The dream.
Updated
40 min At the risk of sounding negative, this game has been really underwhelming. There’s just a general lack of intensity. Lloris plucks a cross from Foket out of the air, under no challenge.
Maarten Logghe has some more facts about Belgium: “Citizens of Ghent are called ‘noose wearers’. Something to do with Charles V being not happy with them over something. I’m sorry this information is not very funny.”
Don’t apologise, Maarten! Don’t ever apologise.
38 min Bram Korteweg has some info: “I can confirm your assumptions on the name of both the city and their football team in Flemish, which is Gent. In English it’s called Ghent. I’m wondering why the city of Genk (playing Astra Giurgiu tonight) doesn’t get the same treatment in English.
“PS: Belgium is the sole monarchy with two kings in Europe. Moussa Dembele rules the northern realm of Flanders; Eden Hazard reigns in the south.”
37 min Lloris hasn’t really been tested. And that shot from Dele aside, neither has Kalinic.
35 min Matt Turner writes: “To follow up on Peter Oh’s post, does anyone know why G(h)ent’s crest is what looks like a Native American Cree War Bonnet? Is G(h)ent a western-themed town?”
Well, apparently, it dates back to Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, which performed in Ghent in 1895 – hence the club’s nickname the Buffalos. But there have been some accusations of racial insensitivity around their logo, which shows a Native American man in headgear. The club denies that. More here, from the club’s official website.
Updated
32 min Still not much happening. It’s the Europa League!
27 min Spurs clear with ease.
26 min Mistake from Walker, and Saief, who’s looked lively for Gent, goes into the box, but it’s a good block from Alderweireld to deny him. Now Gent force a corner. This is a bit more like it.
24 min Here’s Gerrard Catesby again: “To be honest, I haven’t seen much of Spurs in Europe, so has anyone (yourself, obviously, included) got any stats/facts proving that they are/aren’t terrible in Europe. It’s always struck me that their results are poor, but I’m no Spurs fan.”
Spurs fans, tell us! Is it unacceptable for a club of such rich tradition to have not won anything in Europe for 33 years?
22 min Gent try to work it down the left, but Saief can’t quite catch the pass, and it’s a Spurs goal kick. There hasn’t been much rhythm so far.
20 min Spurs head the first ball clear, but it’s popped back in, and Gigot, the centre-back, shoots wide as Spurs appealed for offside. The flag didn’t go up, though.
19 min This game’s definitely got the feel of an early-evening game on a Thursday night, where neither team can really be arsed. Although Saief does well to win a corner.
16 min Here’s Peter Oh: “Gent’s club logo has got more feathers than the Spurs bird, but based on your observations so far it’s hard to say who is the pluckier side.”
Wahay!
14 min Kane tests Kalinic, but the keeper gets everything behind it. Here’s Gerrard Catesby: “Utd v Spurs? I’m not a fan of ‘history in the competition lark’ but there’s no denying Spurs are terrible in Europe. United clearly aren’t, as the second best English team in the competition. My gut instinct says go with the bookies, but my hopes wildly deny it. If Spurs play to their best, they’ll win it – because at their best they’re better than any of the other teams at their best.”
Are Spurs terrible in Europe? United, weirdly, have never won the Europa League/Uefa Cup, although I suppose the majority of their peak years were spent in the Champions League, of which they’ve won three.
12 min Ooh! Dele goes close. A lovely fizzing pass from Davies into Dele’s feet, and the first touch was impeccable, to set up a shooting chance, 20 yards out – and he hit it just wide! Kalinic was struggling there. Dele hit it clean as a whistle. Unlucky.
Updated
10 min Nothing so far in attack from Spurs. But they haven’t been troubled in defence, either. It’s all rather low-energy at the moment.
8 min Free kick to Gent 30 yards from goal. Milicevic takes it, and it’s straight at the wall.
6 min It’s been a slow start: no goalmouth action to speak of. Do we have any Flemish speakers in the house? I just want to clarify the Gent/Ghent spelling: I’m told that Gent is the Dutch-Flemish spelling, and Ghent is the English version – which is why we refer to the city as Ghent, but the football team as Gent. (Like Turin/Torino, perhaps.) But can someone confirm or deny?
3 min Gent playing with a three-man backline tonight. Tottenham look like a four, with Wanyama sitting deep.
1 min And we’re off! The Ghelamco Arena, Gent’s 20,000 home stadium, looks in good nick. Tottenham in white; Gent in their change strip of fluorescent yellow.
The players are on the pitch, shaking hands. We’re moments away.
I wonder if Bradley Wiggins is watching tonight. The first Briton to win the Tour de France was born in Ghent, where his Australian father lived as a pro cyclist, and grew up in Kilburn, where he used to go and watch Tottenham as a young lad. (Although he’s reputed to support Liverpool.) Fancy that!
By the way, if you haven’t seen it already, this is a great quiz. (This is the real quiz.)
Updated
According to the bookies, Manchester United are the favourites to win the Europa League; Spurs are second. Are they right? Man Utd or Spurs? Let’s have a heated debate!
Here are those teams written in better, more conventional, fashion:
Gent: Kalinic, Mitrovic, Asare, Dejaegere, Gigot, Saief, Esiti, Foket, Simon, Perbet, Milicevic. Subs: Rinne, Coulibaly, Renato Neto, Kalu, De Smet, Louis Verstraete, Gershon.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Walker, Alderweireld, Dier, Davies, Wanyama, Dembele, Sissoko, Alli, Winks, Kane. Subs: Vorm, Son, Nkoudou, Trippier, Eriksen, Onomah, Wimmer.
Referee: Benoit Bastien (Lorraine)
Updated
A couple of changes for Spurs: Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko come in for Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min. Gent look to Danijel Milicevic and Jérémy Perbet for skill and goals.
Updated
Some lineups
📋 Line-up KAA Gent vs @SpursOfficial #gnttot #UEL pic.twitter.com/zmbbzbtcOw
— KAA Gent (@KAAGent) February 16, 2017
#THFC: Lloris (C), Walker, Alderweireld, Dier, Davies, Wanyama, Dembele, Winks, Sissoko, Dele, Kane. #COYS pic.twitter.com/UZbL2fbguF
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 16, 2017
Hello and welcome
After last night’s capitulation in Munich, all the talk has been of Arsenal – but don’t forget about that other club in north London. Today it’s Tottenham’s turn in Europe, and they’re in Belgium, to play Gent in a last-32 first-leg tie that they should be able to win.
After a hugely disappointing Champions League campaign in the autumn, Spurs can salvage by winning their third Uefa Cup/Europa League – and their first since 1984. They have the class and the drive to go far; perhaps the only worry is whether, come May, they have the squad depth to contend with inevitable Euro fatigue.
Spurs were really below-par against Liverpool on Saturday, where they lost 2-0, but coach Mauricio Pochettino is happy to be back playing – even if he will be making changes.
“After what happened against Liverpool all the players want the chance to play again and try to change the feeling,” Pochettino said. “We dropped our performance, our energy, our desire maybe … we showed that lack of competitiveness as a team and that surprised us. So maybe we will make some changes but not too many.
“I’m happy to be involved in different competitions, the Europa League and the FA Cup. It’s true, it’s not easy, and we need to be fresh in our minds, to take better decisions for the team. You need all the squad involved and feeling important, but I like to compete. Some teams, like Chelsea or Liverpool, have three or four days’ holidays now to try and prepare for a week and a half for a Premier League game. But I prefer to be busy and try and win some titles. That, for me, is the best way to be.”
Kick off is in about 40 minutes. Join us then.
Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, read Toby Moses on the plight of Spurs’ north London neighbours:
This power vacuum above Wenger can be traced right up to the owner, Stan Kroenke. There is no doubt the American bought the club as an investment and a very sound one it has proven. With the manager able to deliver a top-four finish seemingly in perpetuity, the money keeps rolling in. Why rock the boat? He is rarely at the ground and seems more than happy to let Wenger act as a lightning rod for any criticism. This is an absentee owner with no knowledge or interest in football. Beneath him Sir Chips Keswick acts as chairman, a man who confesses to being no football expert, and who, when asked about the club’s continued failure to get beyond the last-16 in the Champions League, described exasperation from fans as “just noise”.
Arsenal are the seventh richest club in the world, with huge cash reserves, and a large modern stadium in one of the most vibrant cities in the world. The squad have improved vastly in recent seasons but the failures have remained eerily similar since 2008. The common factor is the manager. Would any other club of a similar stature really allow this kind of stasis to have continued for so long?
