Johnson again, but Roma grab late equaliser in Europa League clash

A stoppage-time equaliser denied us victory in an entertaining but ultimately frustrating Europa League clash with Roma on Thursday evening.

Handed the perfect start when Heung-Min Son converted a fifth-minute penalty at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, we were pegged back when Evan N’Dicka headed home only to take a lead into the break courtesy of Brennan Johnson’s third goal in this season’s competition.

Both sides had plenty of chances in the second half, both hit the woodwork but it looked like we had done enough to take all three points when the game entered stoppage time, only for Mats Hummels to deny us with a close-range finish.

It means we drop out of the automatic qualification places in the 36-team league stage and now sit in ninth with three rounds of matches to go, with a visit to Rangers – who sit directly above us in the table – up next on 12 December.

There were just over 125 seconds on the clock when Pape Matar Sarr looked to be brought down in the area by Hummels although Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg didn’t initially give the penalty. However, VAR intervened and, after checking the pitchside monitor, the official awarded the spot-kick and Son buried the penalty in the fifth minute.

But, moments after Fraser Forster had kept out Paulo Dybala at his near post, Roma levelled it up when Dybala’s free-kick was headed in off the crossbar by N’Dicka. The Italian side thought they’d gone ahead on 22 minutes, Stephan El Shaarawy with a crisp first-time volley into the bottom corner only for VAR to rule it out for offside.

Chances kept coming at both ends, Angelino blocking Johnson’s effort on the goal-line with Dominic Solanke’s shot on the rebound saved by Mile Svilar, while Forster made an excellent save low down to his left to keep out Dybala’s shot at the other end. We were back in front in the 33rd minute with a lovely goal, Sarr’s ball down the left flank finding Dejan Kulusevski who advanced to the left edge of the area before sliding the perfect pass across for Johnson to slam home from 10 yards. That put us back in control and we enjoyed a good spell as the first half drew to a close, Kulusevski hitting the post with Son blasting the rebound high over the bar before our skipper forced Svilar into a one-handed diving save with a curling shot.

The second period started in the same vein and we had a four-against-two breakaway, only for Kulusevski’s shot to get blocked by Hummels with Johnson blazing the loose ball over the bar. But it continued to be end-to-end and the visitors had the ball in the net twice in quick succession, both ruled out for offsides against Artem Dovbyk, before Angelino’s strike deflected off Pedro Porro and crashed against the crossbar. Porro then did the same at the opposite end, hitting a 25-yard free-kick that skimmed off the top of the woodwork.

Manu Kone probably should have done better when the ball fell kindly to him on the edge of the box but his effort fizzed a yard wide, while Solanke was played in by James Maddison down the inside left channel only for Svilar to parry his angled drive away for a corner. Our England striker went close again with 10 minutes left, Archie Gray sending over a cross which Solanke headed against the post and was then unable to get a decisive touch on the rebound.

The visitors applied some late pressure and there was almost a disastrous moment in the 87th minute when Porro’s attempted header back to Forster fell straight to Dovbyk eight yards out but the keeper was out quickly to smother the ball and we escaped. Forster then made an unbelievable save to push Gianluca Mancini’s fierce half-volley over the bar and we thought that might have been enough to secure the points. But, in the first minute of stoppage time, Angelino drilled the ball across the face of the goal and Hummels was there to tap in at the back post, making it 2-2.

Team news saw four changes from the win over Manchester City at the weekend as Forster, Gray, Rodrigo Bentancur and Johnson came in for Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, Yves Bissouma and Maddison. Development Squad left-sided defender Maeson King, 19, was on the bench for the first time in a competitive first team game, having also travelled with the squad to the Etihad on Saturday.

Match data

Goals: Spurs – Son 5, Johnson 33; Roma – N’Dicka 20, Hummels 90+1.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Kulusevski, Bentancur; Roma – Parades.

Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden).

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Weather: Clear sky, light winds, three degrees.

Attendance: 53,379.