Spurs held by Roma in Europa League thriller

In terms of the start of the matches, Roma's in North London couldn't possibly have gone much worse.

There were less than two minutes on the clock when Pape Matar Sarr went down in the penalty area under a challenge from Mats Hummels, and although referee Glenn Nyberg initially waved away the objections, a quick VAR check confirmed it was in fact a penalty and Son Heung- Min sent from the spot.

Spurs then committed the gravest sin of taking their foot off the accelerator, and they paid brutally when Paulo Dybala's cross was headed home by Evan Ndicka.

Roma thought they had completed the comeback shortly afterwards when the ball fell favorably to Stephan El Shaarawy, who smashed the ball into the bottom corner, but a VAR offside check saved Spurs.

The hosts came tantalizingly close to regaining the lead at the other end minutes later when Brennan Johnson's effort was heroically blocked on the line by Angelino before Dominic Solanke was denied in the follow-up by a stunning save from Mile Svilar.

That was only a temporary reprieve, however, as Spurs regained the lead shortly afterwards when Johnson netted Dejan Kulusevski's cutback.

Spurs missed some brilliant chances to create a two-goal lead before half-time, and they were almost punished for that within 15 minutes of the restart.

Roma had the ball in the net twice, once through Artem Dovbyk and once through Manu Kone, but both were disallowed due to the offside flag.

This match could at times be compared more to a basketball match, and in line with that it was Spurs' turn to go close ten minutes from time when Dominic Solanke headed against the crossbar.

With only a slim advantage, Spurs could never sit comfortably in the closing stages and were made to pay cruelly as surprise starter Hummels made amends for his first-half mistake by curling home Angelino's poor throw.

A win would have kept Spurs in the top eight and good value for a place in the last 16, but instead their place now looks a lot less secure, although their situation is still much more positive than that of Roma, who are still some way behind. the top eight.

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View all Europa League results here.