Tottenham Hotspur left Norway with a point after a fiesty 2-2 draw against FK Bodø/Glimt, as a cruel late own goal denied the hosts what would have been their first-ever UEFA Champions League group or League stage victory on home soil. Spurs, who began their UCL season with a narrow 1-0 win over Villarreal thanks to an early own goal, were made to work hard again for a point on a difficult night in Scandinavia, Softfootball reports.
The build-up to this game had already been tricky for Thomas Frank’s men. Just days before kickoff, Softfootball revealed that Dominic Solanke was set to undergo surgery and would be unavailable for selection. The striker, who fired Spurs to their Uefa Europa League title last season, is very central to their attack, and his absence was always going to be felt.
That showed in the first half, as Spurs looked blunt and second-best against a Bodø/Glimt side full of energy and belief. The hosts should have taken the lead when Kasper Høgh was handed the chance to score from the spot, but he skied his penalty over after Rodrigo Bentancur’s clumsy challenge. Even so, Bodø kept pressing, with Jens Petter Hauge causing all sorts of problems.
It was Hauge who finally broke the deadlock after the restart,curling a brilliant strike into the far corner of the pos, which sent the home crowd wild. Tottenham thought they had equalised soon after through Bentancur, only for VAR to chalk it off. Hauge then struck again, hammering in a second to put Bodø on the verge of a famous win.
But Spurs refused to roll over. Micky van de Ven headed in from Pedro Porro’s cross to set up a frantic finale, and deep into stoppage time, substitute Wilson Odobert’s header crashed off the bar before ricocheting off Jostein Gundersen and into the net. For Bodø, it was cruel. For Spurs, it was a huge let-off.
After the game, its no brainer tha Spurs will be feeling lucky to get away with atleast a point on the board, Tottenham via its official X handle, confirmed this feeling after they posted the post match reaction of manager Thomas Frank giving his thoughts on a hardfought point away from home, watch video below;
Tottenham’s unbeaten start in Europe this season remains intact, they also beat Villarreal in their opener thanks to an early own goal, but their struggles in Norway showed just how much they will miss Solanke while he recovers.
