Tomi Horvart’s brilliant curler broke the deadlock early before Harry Kane equalized for Tottenham in the 72nd minute and then Amadek Marosa scored a stoppage time winner for Mura.
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Tottenham suffered a humiliating 2-1 defeat against Slovenian minnows NS mura in the Europa Conference League group stage fixture in Maribor on Thursday. Mura, who are the lowest ranked team in the competition took an early lead through Tomi Horvart’s brilliant strike before Tottenham midfielder Ryan Sessengon was sent off for his second yellow card offence just after the half-hour mark. Although Harry Kane equalized for the visitors in the second half, Amadek Marosa scored a stoppage time winner to seal Mura’s first victory in the competition.
Mura who are ranked 341st in the UEFA coefficient ranking came into the match having lost their previous four games in the competition and are mid-table in the Slovenian league. However the home side were clearly the better side on the night and Tottenham struggled to get going. Within 11 minutes of kick-off, Horvart was released down the right flank and the Slovenian midfielder cut inside and easily went past Davinson Sanchez before slotting the ball into the far corner with a left-footed curler. Things got worse for the visitors as they were reduced to 10-man in the 31st minute as Sessengan was sent off for a clumsy foul on Ziga Kous.
Five minutes later. Kane nearly leveled, but his shot from inside the box went just wide. Meanwhile at the other end, Lorbek’s shot from outside the box after some neat build up play by Mura flashed just wide as goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini was rooted to the spot.
Tottenham’s new boss Antonio Conte introduced Heung-Min son, Lucas Moura, Eric Dier and Ben Davies to instill more attacking threat. Son went on a surging solo run into the penalty area, went past several defenders before forcing a save from Mura goalkeeper Matko Obradovic. That was the home goalkeeper’s first save of the night.
From the resulting corner Kane directed a free header straight at Obradovic. For the relentless pressure applied by Tottenham, they finally leveled the score in the 72nd minute. Moura’s brilliant through ball found Kane on the right side of the penalty area and the England captain slotted the ball past Obradovic and into the goal with a clever chip from a tight angle.
The equalizer lifted Tottenham’s confidence and they pushed forward for the winner. Moura’s long ranger went just over the crossbar. However as Tottenham pushed men forward, Mura scored from a breakaway move. Marosa was released down the right, he cut inside Sanchez and his deflected effort looped over Gollini and into the goal to spark wild scenes of celebration.
The defeat left Tottenham in the second spot in Group G with 7 points from 5 games while Mura are placed at the bottom with 3 points. Now, Spurs will likely have to beat Rennes in their final group game to be assured of qualification for the knockout stage and they can no longer qualify as group winners, meaning they will have to play an extra round.
Conte said after the match “After three weeks I am starting to understand the situation. It is not simple. At this moment the level at Tottenham is not so high.
“This a bad loss for us. The performance was poor. We know we have a lot of work ahead of us. This is a difficult moment for us. We need patience to improve, to be good again. We were poor not only technically and tactically but also mentally. It will take time to bring Tottenham back.
“I don’t take this loss personally. I accepted this challenge to improve and build Tottenham to a better level. But it will take time. I want to thank our supporters for their support. We will analyse the game and I will talk to the players then.
