Spurs forced to settle for draw against Lazio
Andre Villas-Boas is still waiting for his first home win as Tottenham boss after his team were held to a 0-0 draw by Italian side Lazio in the Europa League on Thursday.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: September 21, 2012 08:17 AM IST
Andre Villas-Boas is still waiting for his first home win as Tottenham boss after his team were held to a 0-0 draw by Italian side Lazio in the Europa League on Thursday.
After Spurs cruised to a 3-1 win at Reading on Sunday to give Villas-Boas his maiden success with the north London outfit, the former Chelsea manager must have hoped for a first taste of victory in front of his own fans at White Hart Lane.
But Tottenham's luck was out as Villas-Boas's side had three goals disallowed and Lazio emerged with a point from the Group J opener despite being out-played for long periods.
Spurs have now won just once in the first five matches of the Villas-Boas era and the Portuguese coach, sacked by Chelsea after just eight months, will be desperate to end his barren home run when QPR visit White Hart Lane in the Premier League on Sunday.
Tottenham midfielder Clint Dempsey bemoaned his side's misfortune, telling ITV: "We had some chances and were unlucky not to get the goal tonight.
"I thought I'd opened my account but it was waved offside. That's the way it goes sometimes, they defended well, set up to counter-attack and were tough to break down."
All eyes were on Tottenham goalkeepeer Hugo Lloris early on as he was chosen ahead of Brad Friedel. The £8 million debutant seemed nervous when he bowled the ball out to a shocked Kyle Naughton, but the full-back was fouled by Ogenyi Onazi and Spurs escaped.
Tottenham's best chance of the first half came when Jermain Defoe clipped a lofted ball to the back post where Gareth Bale was waiting, but the Welsh midfielder headed straight at Federico Marchetti.
Bale thought he had made amends for his miss moments later when he delivered a pinpoint cross which Dempsey converted with a diving header, but the linesman flagged for offside.
Lazio started to come back in to the game and Alvaro Gonzalez volleyed Jan Vertonghen's clearance against the bar with Lloris beaten.
But Tottenham came out more confidently after the break and had the ball in the net for a second time just before the hour.
Again the goal was ruled out after the linesman ruled Bale had drifted offside when he latched on to Dempsey's through-ball.
Dempsey thought he should have had a penalty soon after when he appeared to be pushed in the box but Romanian referee Ovidiu Alin Hategan ruled against the hosts.
Hategan was in the spotlight again in the closing stages when Steven Caulker bundled in Bale's corner, only to see the referee rule it out for a foul, prompting Villas-Boas to make a furious complaint on the touchline.
Stefano Mauri almost won it for Lazio five minutes from time when he sneaked through the Spurs defence, but he lost his composure and the hosts survived.