Champions League - Leverkusen 0 - 0 SpursHugo Lloris produces heroics to earn Spurs a point at Bayer Leverkusen
There had been little to advertise the Bayer Leverkusen onslaught. Tottenham Hotspur had not only been comfortable in the first half, they were impressive and, on another night, they would have been in front. Dele Alli was off target with a gilt-edged header while Vincent Janssen sent another one against the crossbar.
But this was an occasion when Tottenham’s resilience would endure an exacting test. They passed it and they could yet come to be grateful for the point that kept them above Leverkusen in a congested Champions League Group E, going into the German club’s visit to Wembley in two weeks’ time.
The resistance was symbolised by the goalkeeper and captain, Hugo Lloris, and the save that he made to deny Javier Hernández, the former Manchester United striker, in the 48th minute was one that needed several replays simply to understand.
Hernández had to score, following Lars Bender’s cross from the right; the range was point-blank and a significant portion of the goal was gaping. But he sent his low shot too close to Lloris and that represented the lifeline. The Frenchman seized it. He showed incredible agility to get down and then strength to clamp the ball with his right hand on to the line. Video technology showed that the whole of the ball had not crossed over.
Tottenham were hanging on for much of the second half, as Bayer showed pace and adventure. There were nervous moments in a visiting defence that seemed to miss the authority of the injured Toby Alderweireld and Lloris was required to work again, although not in such spectacular fashion. Mauricio Pochettino’s team rode their luck at times and there was relief when Omer Toprak sent a free header over the bar in the 68th minute. Toprak beat the ground in frustration. But Tottenham could feel some satisfaction upon the full-time whistle and it was telling that Pochettino described it as a “strong point”.
Goalless draws are not supposed to be so watchable and Bayer showed themselves to be formidable opponents when they hit their stride. It was a game in which the margins were knife-edge thin and the right to play had to be earned. Bayer started brightly, with Roger Schmidt having played Stefan Kiessling up alongside Hernández, but Tottenham came to control the first half.
Pochettino could be pleased with the assurance that his players demonstrated in possession before the interval and, on a number of occasions, their interchanges were too sharp for Bayer. They had two moments when they were agonisingly close to taking the lead. Kieran Trippier took Victor Wanyama’s pass and his cross was measured for Alli, who had timed his run into the area. Alli rose but his free header, for which he was stretching slightly, flashed past the post.
Janssen had some encouraging moments in the first half and when he teed up Alli on 38 minutes, Toprak blocked the midfielder’s shot. Trippier got to the loose ball and, from his cross, Janssen’s header struck the bar. Érik Lamela scooped the rebound towards the roof of the net only for Bernd Leno to tip it over.
Pochettino had kept faith with Janssen in the centre-forward position, which meant that Son Heung-min played off the flank, initially on the right and then the left. He would later move up front when Janssen was withdrawn.
It was an emotional night for Son and there were whistles and boos for the former Bayer attacker from the home support, who have not forgotten the acrimonious nature of his departure in August of last year. He missed the club’s Champions League play-off second-leg at home to Lazio because he was in London to undergo his Tottenham medical. Son flickered. He teed up Janssen to stroke the ball into an empty net during the early running but the South Korean had been flagged for offside in the buildup and he had a shot blocked by Benjamin Henrichs on 25 minutes. He was substituted to jeers in the last minute and Pochettino finished with Josh Onomah in the striker’s role.
Bayer have been erratic this season and they sit just below halfway in the Bundesliga. They offered little in an attacking sense in the first half – a Hernández pot-shot the sum total of their efforts – but they crackled to life after the break. Admir Mehmedi had the ball in the net only for play to be called back for a foul by Hernández on Lloris before the goalkeeper distinguished himself with the save from Hernandez that he had no right to make.
Schmidt’s half-time introduction of the defensive midfielder, Julian Baumgartlinger, made a difference and it became one-way traffic. Charles Aránguiz worked Lloris with a free-kick; Danny Rose made a vital block to thwart Hernández; Mehmedi extended Lloris and Toprak headed over from Kevin Kampl’s corner.
Not for the first time, Pochettino lamented his team’s lack of clinical edge in front of goal but he recognised Lloris was the decisive factor. “Some brilliance from Hugo kept us in the game,” he said. “He is one of the best in the world and he is in the best moment of his career.”
Guardian
