MX23RW : Thursday, July 4 16:08:56| >> :120:23258:23258:
[monks data]
Leverkusen logo
Champions League | Group Stage
Oct 18, 2016 at 7.45pm UK
 
Spurs logo

0-0

FT

Tottenham Hotspur hold on to earn point at Bayer Leverkusen

Spurs hold on to earn point against Leverkusen
© SilverHub
Bayer Leverkusen and Tottenham Hotspur play out a goalless draw in their Champions League group-stage tie in a game of two halves at the BayArena.

Tottenham Hotspur have earned a 0-0 draw from their Champions League Group E tie with Bayer Leverkusen to keep their knockout stage hopes intact.

Spurs dominated the first-half chances but went into the break all square, and it was the home side who were by far the better team in the second period as they had 12 shots compared to their opponents' tally of zero.

In the end Mauricio Pochettino would have been happy enough with the point - Leverkusen's fifth draw in succession in the competition - which leaves his side third in the standings, one point off AS Monaco who earned a late draw against CSKA Moscow elsewhere this evening.

High pressing was always going to be a big theme in the game, and it was the hosts who first forced their opponents into a mistake high up the pitch when Danny Rose was dispossessed, but the subsequent cross was well off the mark and the chance went begging.

Vincent Janssen thought he had his first goal from open play in a Tottenham shirt nine minutes in when converting from a Son Heung-min pass, though the South Korean was rightly adjudged to have been offside and the strike was ruled out before celebrations could begin.

A third of the match had elapsed before the first chance of any note arrived, which came via the head of Dele Alli as he met a fine Kieran Trippier cross from the right.

Alli, who had scored in each of the Lilywhites' last two games prior to tonight, perhaps should have been doing better from eight yards out as he sent his attempt wide of the target under little pressure.

Home defender Omer Toprak was called into action a couple of times to produce some vital blocks on the edge of the box, but he came close to opening the scoring up the other end when glancing a header wide 32 minutes in.

Spurs dominated the final 10 minutes of the first half, taking control of things and creating two more big chances - Janssen seeing his close-range header come back off the bar, before Erik Lamela's follow-up attempt was somehow kept out by Bernd Leno.

Former Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez, with five goals to his name in the Bundesliga this term - half of his side's total tally - has never previously registered against Tottenham Hotspur, and his frustrations continued as he flashed one wide on the brink of the interval.

Spurs have now shipped just six goals in their opening 12 games of the season but, having made three changes at the back this evening, they were struggling to keep that impressive record fully intact as the match wore on.

Hernandez should have edged his side ahead when given the chance to tap the ball home at the back post, yet he gave Hugo Lloris a glimmer of hope of getting there - and get there he did, despite Hernandez's claims that the ball has crossed the line.

Bayer were starting to make their opponents work far harder as the hour mark approached, with Charles Aranguiz sending in a free kick towards the bottom corner for Lloris to push aside.

From the corner kick, Rose was twice in the right place at the right time to block aside shots that looked destined for the back of the net, and Admir Mehmedi was the next to test Lloris 62 minutes in with another top save down to his right.

Spurs were having to hold on at times in the second half, seeing one penalty call go their way when the ball popped up and hit Rose on the hand, while Stefan Kiessling and Toprak were also denied in quick succession by the visitors' inspired skipper.

Pochettino had to turn to his bench to introduce some midfield reinforcements, bringing on Moussa Sissoko and Mousa Dembele to join Victor Wanyama for the final 20 minutes, but it did not have the desired immediate impact as Toprak again came close to finding a way through.

It was a case of holding on for the visitors, as they were made to settle for the odd counter-attacking move, but in the end there was to be no winner as the German outfit extended their unbeaten run in European competition to nine games.

ID:283565: cacheID:283565:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:6993:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino watches on on September 14, 2016
Read Next:
Moussa Sissoko ruled out of Moscow trip
>
rhs 2.0
Euro 2024 fixtures header
Friday, July 5
 
5pm
Quarter-Finals
Spain
vs.
Germany
 
8pm
Quarter-Finals
Portugal
vs.
France
Saturday, July 6
 
5pm
 
8pm
Tuesday, July 9
Wednesday, July 10
Sunday, July 14
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany32107
Q Switzerland Switzerland31205
3 Hungary Hungary31023
4 Scotland flag Scotland30121

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain33009
Q Italy Italy31114
3 Croatia Croatia30212
4 Albania national flag Albania30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England31205
Q Denmark Denmark30303
Q Slovenia Slovenia30303
4 Serbia Serbia30212

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria32016
Q France France31205
Q Netherlands Netherlands31114
4 Poland Poland30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania31114
Q Belgium Belgium31114
Q Slovakia Slovakia31114
4 Ukraine Ukraine31114

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Turkey Turkey32016
Q Georgia Georgia31114
4 Czech Republic Czech Republic30121


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!