Tottenham Hotspur’s 100% record in this season’s Europa League was ended as Galatasaray beat them 3-2 in Istanbul on Thursday.
Ange Postecoglou will likely be down a few chunks of hair after a disastrous performance from his players, who defended dreadfully and continually gave the ball away in dangerous areas.
A Yunus Akgun screamer got things going after just six minutes, while Victor Osimhen helped himself to a brace after Will Lankshear had equalised for the visitors.
Dominic Solanke gave Spurs hope with a smart flick in the 69th minute after Lankshear had been sent off. However, with 10 men, there was just too much to do.
And in reality, even if Spurs had snatched a result from this match, it would have been wildly undeserved after a performance that saw them face a whopping 27 shots and 3.24 xG from Galatasaray.
Here are the full Spurs player ratings from a tough night in Turkey.
Galatasaray vs Spurs player ratings: Radu Dragusin horror show
Fraser Forster – 3/10 – Absolutely dreadful with the ball and almost gave Galatasaray a fourth as he completely missed his mark coming to claim a cross. Made a few good saves to try and make up for his errors.
Pedro Porro – 6/10 – Almost totally focused on pushing forward, which often left his teammates outnumbered at the back. However, he got his assist in the second half with a powerful, low cross for Solanke.
Radu Dragusin – 1/10 – About as bad a performance you could hope to witness from a centre-back. At fault for both of Osimhen’s goals and it could have been much worse after a host of mistakes. Dragusin’s 71% pass completion rate tells you everything you need to know about his performance.
Ben Davies – 5/10 – Didn’t exactly do brilliantly himself but is marked up due to spending most of the match trying to cover for Dragusin.
Archie Gray – 6/10 – One of the few Spurs players who looked somewhat comfortable with the ball. Played an excellent switched pass in the build-up to Lankshear’s goal.
Yves Bissouma – 7/10 – Forced to get through a mountain of defensive work as Galatasaray just kept coming, making a whopping 15 recoveries, three tackles, three clearances and one interception. Rode out being on a yellow card with good discipline.
Lucas Bergvall – 4/10 – Has shown promise as a Spurs player so far but this wasn’t his best night. Didn’t get to grips with Galatasaray’s dynamism and often went missing as Spurs tried to build.
Brennan Johnson – 6/10 – A great assist for Lankshear’s goal but struggled to make an impact throughout the rest of the first half. Sacrificed at half-time as Postecoglou looked to restore calm in possession.
James Maddison – 5/10 – A couple of nice touches here and there but didn’t do enough to get Spurs on the front foot or take the pressure off.
Heung-min Son – 5/10 – Did well on Tottenham’s goal but was well off the pace otherwise. Brought off at half-time.
Will Lankshear – 6/10 – Took his goal well and tried his best to lead the line for Spurs before youth and inexperience took over to earn himself a second yellow card.
Substitutes:
Rodrigo Bentancur (46′, for Johnson) – 8/10 – Added some calm and composure to the Spurs midfield, not to mention extra bite.
Dejan Kulusevski (46′, for Son) – 6/10 – Helped stretch the play and kept Galatasaray’s defenders honest with his running.
Dominic Solanke (66′, for Bergvall) – 7/10 – Took his goal brilliantly and gave Spurs a focal point after Lankshear’s red card.
Pape Sarr (66′, for Maddison) – 5/10 – Caught in possession a couple of times in dangerous areas but got away with it.
