Champions League

HARRY KANE thought he had saved the day once again.But unlike his last-gasp heroics at Chelsea earlier this season and countless times before, on this occasion he was to be denied by VAR with ten seconds left on the clock.
Harry Kane thought he had the winner in injury time only for VAR to interveneCredit: PA
But the goal was ruled out for offside leaving Spurs furiousCredit: Getty

The stratospheric high to crushing low proved too much for Conte, who blew his top at the officials and was sent off.
Before the late drama, Conte’s Totteham had been serving up another uninspiring display, following on from two defeats in a row in the league.
Old boy Marcus Edwards, who joined Spurs as an eight-year-old but never made a senior appearance, was stealing the show thanks to his fine opener midway through the first half.
Rodrigo Bentancur’s late header looked as if it would only spare Conte’s blushes but not be enough to seal qualification for the Champions League knockout stages.
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Yet when Kane crashed home Emerson Royal’s knockdown deep into stoppage time, all inside the magnificent Tottenham Hotspur Stadium believed the hosts had done it.
Then came that dreaded wait as VAR official Pol van Boekel intervened and eventually informed on-field referee and Dutch compatriot Danny Makkelie that the strike had to be chalked off for offside.
Eric Dier fumed at the Makkelie that Royal’s header went backwards, though that would have been irrelevant if Kane was in an offside position.
Although even that was hard to clarify after four minutes of replays.

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Conte’s rage overtook him as he was given his marching orders. 
Yet he will have known, deep down, that while the dreaded lines of doom on the video assistant referee’s TV may have been cruel on his side, defeat on Sporting would have been harsher.
Spurs went into this game knowing three points would have put them into the last 16 of Europe’s elite club competition.
But they served up another leggy display, continuing a theme seen in defeats against Manchester United and Newcastle in the last week.
Grumbles have been growing on the terraces over the team’s lack of invention.
There were plenty more of those here, though the fan ire, in the end, was directed at the spoil-sport officials. 
Now Spurs must go to Marseille on Tuesday needing a result to avoid relegation to the Europa League.
Marcus Edwards came back to haunt Tottenham with the openerCredit: AFP
The ex-academy ace fired home from rangeCredit: Getty
Bentancur got the equaliser, out-jumping the flapping keeperCredit: AP
And, frustratingly for Conte, that means the likes of Kane, Dier, Son Heung-min and Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg cannot get the rest they so badly need.
Edwards was once likened to Lionel Messi by former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino for his ability on the ball.
But such praise was always going to be impossible to live up to and in 2019 he left the club permanently for Portuguese side Vitoria de Guimaraes.
Sporting liked enough of what they saw to sign him in January and since then he has improved so much that his manager Ruben Amorim has tipped him for England.
That Messi comparison did not seem quite so outlandish during the reverse fixture in September.
Sporting won that game 2-0 thanks to two late goals – inflicting Spurs’ first loss of the season in all competitions.
But the most thrilling moment came towards the end of the first half when Edwards emulated the Argentine genius by dribbling past Dier, Ivan Perisic and Cristian Romero, only to be denied a wondergoal by Hugo Lloris’ save.
This time round though, he did get to feel the ecstasy of finding the net against his old side.
On 22 minutes his moment came as he outmuscled Hojbjerg in midfield before letting fly with a low drive outside the area which nestled beautifully in the corner, giving Lloris no chance.
Boos rang out at the break not only in frustration of the scoreline off the back of two losses but for another lacklustre, tired display.
Sub Nazinho blew two great chances to kill Tottenham off, first seeing a shot repelled by Lloris and then firing wide of an open goal on the rebound.
Those misses proved costly as Bentancur headed home Perisic’s corner with ten minutes to go, with that goal surviving a VAR check.
Sporting old boy Dier should have won it but somehow headed wide from five yards in the 90th minute.
Then came Kane’s intervention as he blasted in sub Royal’s knockdown – only for the computer to say no.
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Heading to the French riviera knowing defeat will send them into the Europa League is the last thing Conte needed right now.
But in the cold light of day, Spurs’ display here did not deserve more – as heartbreaking as it was to see Kane’s salvation denied.
Sporting held their own away from home More

NO-ONE expected this a month ago – certainly not Jurgen Klopp.On the night of his worst night as Liverpool manager, a 4-1 humiliation at Napoli, Klopp would have laughed had you told him his team would be through to the last 16 with a game to go.
Harvey Elliott shows his joy after hammering Liverpool’s third goalCredit: AFP
Mo Salah nips in to embarrass Ajax keeper Remko Pasveer with the openerCredit: Rex
But four successive wins have followed that nightmare in Naples. At a noisy Johan Cruyff Arena last night, goals from Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott sealed an easy win over a desperately-poor Ajax team.
When you look at Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest, no-one on Merseyside will be getting carried away with themselves.
If we are being realistic, Liverpool have been lucky to feature in the same group as both Ajax, along with Rangers, who have been absolutely hopeless.
The fact Ajax have conceded 15 goals and Rangers 19 sums it up.
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But Klopp will still take heart from the fact that his team, although still visibly low on confidence, put away an Ajax team two weeks after thrashing Rangers 7-1. These have been Liverpool’s only away wins this term.
In theory, Liverpool can still win their group. But when teams are level, places are decided on a head-to-head basis. So even if Liverpool beat Napoli, the scoreline in southern Italy would be taken into account.
Instead, Klopp can now concentrate on somehow getting some consistency in the League as their rotten injury situation slowly improves.
Klopp will wish he could face more teams as defensively inept as Ajax who are clearly rebuilding after the loss of their manager to Manchester United along with key players.
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Maybe it would have been different had Ajax taken their early chance when Liverpool were looking nervous.
Steven Berghuis should have capitalised on some static defending but he blasted a shot against the base of the post.
And there were still problems across the defence with Andy Robertson getting caught out on the left and Trent Alexander-Arnold teeing Ajax up with a suicidal pass across the pitch.
Luckily for Alexander-Arnold, Berghuis’ long-range strike fizzed past the post.
In fairness to Alexander-Arnold, he did deliver one block to keep out a goal-bound shot from Dusan Tadic in a move which once again saw Andy Robertson exposed on the left.
Liverpool had been so poor and preditacle going forward and they did not manage their first attack through Salah until the 29th minute and that shot was blocked by a defender.
Yet Liverpool remained patient, they started to pick away at their Dutch opponents and they enjoyed a decent spell towards the closing stages of the first half.
Robertson fired a shot against the sidenetting and Elliott forced a save from Remko Pasveer.
Finally, just before half-time, Liverpool delivered the type of classy move we have seen on so many occasions away from home, apart from this season, which has already seen Klopp’s side lose four times on their travels.
Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez puts his heart into his goal celebrationsCredit: PA
Mo Salah makes his point after his crucial breakthrough strikeCredit: Getty
Harvey Elliott smashes Liverpool 3-0 up early in the second periodCredit: Rex
It was a terrific finish by Salah, his ninth of the season, although the credit must really go down to Jordan Henderson.
Despite not having the best of games until then, he delivered a brilliant pass with the outside of his boot after having too much strength for floundering right-back right-back Sanchez.
Equally, keeper Pasveer helped by rushing off his line. Before the game, Pasveer was asked about the state of the pitch due to a rave which had been staged at the stadium on Saturday night.
Pasveer joked that he had not been at the electronic music event but he certainly danced off his line for no particular reason to invite Salah to shoot first-time.
That goal took the sting out of the atmosphere and Nunez should have scored a second before the break. He wasted an easy chance and fired against the post after Bobby Firmino had selflessly squared.
Nunez made up for that miss by scoring with a brilliant, glancing header from Robertson’s corner.
And then the Liverpool of old returned, causing mayhem on the counter attack.
They went for jugular and grabbed a third when Elliott, who scored his first Champions League goal against Rangers, hammered the ball into the roof of the net after a clever pass from Mo Salah. Once again, Ajax keeper Pasveer was all over the place.
With most of the second half to play, Klopp was fortunate that his team could shift back into second gear and with one eye on Saturday night’s home game with Leeds, he made some changes to keep his players fresh.
You would expect Liverpool, who have been okay at Anfield this season, to see off Leeds.
But it is away from home where Liverpool must improve. Spurs away, on November 6, will once again give us a better indicator of where Klopp’s team are at.
Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez doubles the lead with a bullet headerCredit: AFP
Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino is pursued by Jurrien Timber and Steven Bergwijn as Ajax slumped to a 3-0 home defeatCredit: Reuters
Andy Robertson hooks Liverpool onto the attack, watched by Jordan HendersonCredit: AFP More