LUCAS BERGVALL’S unlucky slice left Tottenham in a pickle at the home of the Cheese Farmers.
But Ange Postecoglou’s side can count themselves lucky they are still in this Europa League tie because, in truth, they stunk the place out.
AZ Alkmaar are known as the Cheese Farmers, or Cheese Heads, on account of the city they represent having a strong association with the beloved dairy product.
They even have a cheese museum in the town centre.
Maarten Martens’ team certainly put on a tasty display too with ex-Spurs striker Troy Parrott giving his old side a difficult night throughout.
It was Parrott’s knockdown which Bergvall managed to hook into his own net on 18 minutes.
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Spurs must now battle to turn this tie around in the second leg at home on Thursday or risk another season without any silverware.
That scenario would pile pressure on boss Postecoglou given his injury-hit side have plunged to 13th in the Premier League table.
To make matters worse, returning England striker Dominic Solanke came off crocked late on – despite being introduced as a sub just 19 minutes earlier.
Anyone expecting AZ to be a pushover clearly had not seen how they put Galatasaray to the sword 4-1 at home in last month’s play-offs.
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But even so, considering how much this game meant in the context of Tottenham’s season, Postecoglou’s side were surprisingly woeful.
In fact, they were lucky not to be out of the tie completely by half-time.
The Aussie had opted to leave his returning big-hitters Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Solanke on the bench and they were all missed.
Spurs looked open at the back and toothless up top with poor Mathys Tel feeding off scraps and struggling badly to make an impact.
Parrott, in contrast, looked a right handful against the side that sold him to AZ in the summer for £6.7million.
It was from the Irishman’s knockdown from a Peer Koopmeiners corner that the hosts’ flukey opener came about.
Troy Parrott shines
Parrott controlled it back towards goal at the far post but when Bergvall went to clear it, the young Swede sliced it backwards, over Djed Spence on the line and into his own net.
On the half hour, AZ had a brilliant chance to double their lead when Parrott was suddenly sent racing clear.
But the 23-year-old was denied an 18th of the season by a crucial stop from alert Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario with his left foot.
Then just before half-time there was a mad scramble near Spurs’ goal where they somehow did just enough to prevent the ball from crossing the line before Bergvall hacked it away.
Dire first half
After such a dire 45, it was no surprise to see Postecoglou make a change during the interval as the ineffectual Tel was hooked for Wilson Odobert.
Yet the hosts’ dominance just continued into the second period – save for an early Bergvall strike which went narrowly wide.
Once again Vicario came to the rescue when he palmed away Ernest Poku’s low drive at his near post.
Solanke was finally thrown into action with 19 minutes to go – coming on for the anonymous Son Heung-min – but then had to come off again after taking a whack.
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It capped an awful night for Postecoglou whose only saving grace is that they are not out of the tie altogether.
But if they fail to turn this around next Thursday, well… that’s just hard cheese.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
