Great comeback, but Barca beat us on penalties
ICC: Barcelona 2-2 Spurs (5-3 on penalties)
Sun 29 July 2018, 07:21|
Tottenham Hotspur
We recovered from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Barcelona in the International Champions Cup at LA's famous Rose Bowl on Saturday night - only to lose 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out.
Quickfire goals from Heung-Min Son and GK Nkoudou after 73 and 75 minutes brought us back into the game and rewarded a dominant second half performance.
We created numerous half-chances in the final 10 minutes as we piled on the pressure looking for a winning goal.
However, that goal eluded us, it ended 2-2 and the match was decided by spot-kicks.
Son and Ben Davies scored as the first four penalties hit the net but Anthony Georgiou's effort was saved by Jasper Cillessen diving to his right to give Barca the advantage. Davinson Sanchez slotted home but Malcolm had the chance to put us out of reach and did just that, converting to make it 5-3.
Earlier, Barca took a 2-0 lead inside 30 minutes thanks to Munir El Haddadi's close-range header on 12 minutes and Arthur's fine strike into the top corner on 29.
Christian Eriksen, our captain on the night, had started to find his range and his low, curling free-kick was palmed away by Cillessen before the break.
Into the second half and the Dane was there again, this time with a 25-yard free-kick that beat Cillessen but struck the foot of the post.
That was the start of the revival as we dictated play in the final 30 minutes with a notable contribution from Oliver Skipp off the bench.
Son clinically slotted home from 12 yards to make it 2-1 before GK Nkoudou buried from close range after a scramble to level at 2-2.
We looked the winners at that stage but we couldn't find that final, knockout blow and the La Liga champions took victory from the spot.
Barcelona 2-2 Spurs (5-3 on penalties)
Barcelona - first half: Cilleson, Miranda, Lenglet, Santos, Semedo, S Roberto (c), Gomes (Puig 26), D Suarez, Rafinha, Melo, Munir.
Second half: Cillessen, Palencia, Mingueza, Cuenca, Cucurella, Puig, Monchu, Perez (Tabla 70), Collado, Malcolm, Ruiz.
Spurs: Gazzaniga (Vorm 61), Aurier, Carter-Vickers, Davies, Walker-Peters (Sanchez 46), Amos, Sissoko (Nkoudou 35), Lucas (Georgiou 61), Eriksen (c), Son, Llorente (Skipp 46). Substitutes (not used): Whiteman, Eyoma, Marsh.
Match data
Goals: Barcelona - Munir 12, Arthur 29; Spurs - Son 73, Nkoudou 75.
Yellow card: Barcelona - Monchu 69.
Referee: Kevin Stott.
Attendance: 66,805.
Venue: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Los Angeles.
The shoot-out
Palencia scores - Barca 1-0 Spurs
Son scores - Barca 1-1 Spurs
Ruiz scores - Barca 2-1 Spurs
Davies scores - Barca 2-2 Spurs
Monchu scores - Barca 3-2 Spurs
Georgiou penalty saved - Barca 3-2 Spurs
Puig scores - Barca 4-2 Spurs
Sanchez scores - Barca 4-3 Spurs
Malcolm scores - Barca 5-3 Spurs
