High-scoring draw in Austria sees us through - report and debrief

We secured our place in the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League on Thursday evening thanks to an entertaining 3-3 draw against LASK in Austria.

Needing just a point to qualify from Group J, we picked up exactly that in a topsy-turvy clash at the Linzer Stadion which saw three of the goals arrive in the final 10 minutes.

The visitors were much the better side in the early exchanges and it was no real surprise when they went ahead three minutes before half-time, Thomas Goiginger leading the charge on a counter-attack and finding Peter Michorl 30 yards out, his right-foot shot dipping and swerving to beat Joe Hart. But we managed to find an equaliser before the interval from the penalty spot. Intricate play down the left saw Heung-Min Son release Lucas Moura, his cut-back was poked goalwards by Tanguy Ndombele but stopped by the arm of Andres Andrade. Polish referee Paweł Raczkowski pointed to the spot and Gareth Bale sent Alexander Schlager the wrong way.

LASK started the second half the brighter but it was us who got the next goal as Mads Emil Madsen lost possession in midfield and Ndombele pounced, sliding the ball through for Son to race onto and beat Schlager with a composed finish.

That took the sting out of the match a little, until a flurry of goals in the final minutes. First, with six minutes remaining, LASK drew level when Andrade picked out Johanes Eggestein with a smart pass and the LASK forward crashed home a shot from 20 yards which Hart couldn’t keep out.

We immediately went up the other end and restored our lead as Steven Bergwijn chased a ball over the top but was clumsily upended by Philipp Weisinger in the area and Dele Alli made no mistake from 12 yards. But we couldn’t hold on again and were pegged back in the 93rd minute thanks to another effort from distance for the hosts, Mamoudou Karamoko picking up possession 22 yards out on the edge of the ‘D’, and he delivered a curling right-footed effort past Hart to level it up at 3-3, the final whistle blowing moments later.

Room for improvement despite progression

While we got the point we needed for qualification and scored three goals in the process, it wasn’t one of our better performances of the season. LASK enjoyed more possession over the course of the 90 minutes, created more chances and had five efforts on goal, with all three of their goals coming from outside the box.

We could easily have been behind before the opening goal on 42 minutes. Thomas Goiginger’s effort was blocked well by Davinson Sanchez after just six minutes, Eggestein curled a right-foot shot against the post moments later, Hart parried away Rene Renner’s fierce drive on 20 minutes and our keeper then made a fine save, racing off his line to block from Renner just after the half-hour mark.

Bale’s penalty on the stroke of half-time, cancelling out Michorl’s opener, was a crucial moment as it meant we were level at the break when we probably should have been trailing. After Son gave us the lead for the first time on the night 11 minutes into the second half, we should have made it 3-1 when Bale led a breakaway and was in on goal, opting to square the ball to the supporting Son only for his pass to go behind his team-mate and LASK survived.

At the other end Karamoko dragged a shot wide and then Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg blazed wide from a tight angle following a corner before the flurry of late goals. When Dele came off the bench to put us 3-2 up on 86 minutes after Eggestein had levelled the game two minutes earlier, it looked like we were heading back to London with all three points, but Karamoko had other ideas with his fine last-gasp finish.

Top spot up for grabs

With qualification assured, we now set our sights on finishing top of Group J. Although we dropped two points on Thursday evening and Royal Antwerp beat Ludogorets at home to move clear at the top, we can win the group with a win over the Belgian side at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next week.

Excluding qualifying matches, Bale’s goal from the spot was his first in a European away game for us since his stunning Champions League hat-trick against Internazionale at the San Siro in October, 2010 – 10 years and 44 days ago.

In team news, Jose Mourinho made eight changes to the team that started against Chelsea on Sunday. Hojbjerg, Ndombele and Son remained, with Hart, Matt Doherty, Sanchez, Japhet Tanganga, Ben Davies, Giovani Lo Celso, Bale and Lucas coming back in. Davies captained the team.

Reaction on Spurs TV

'The result was better than the performance'

Jose said after the game: "The result was better than the performance, the second half better than the first, some players individually had very good performances, but some had very poor performances. The only positive I take from the game is the result, that we have qualified, and we have the chance to finish first if we beat Antwerp."

Match data

Goals: LASK – Michorl 42, Eggestein 84, Karamoko 90+3; Spurs – Bale 45+2 (pen), Son 56, Dele 86 (pen).

Yellow cards: LASK – Michorl, Andrade, Karamoko, Weisinger; Spurs – Lucas, Dele.

Referee: Paweł Raczkowski (Poland).

Venue: Linzer Stadion, Linz, Austria.

Weather: Cloudy night, cold and dry, -3 degrees.