Very disappointing result. With this draw, we are now virtually out of the CL. The only way we can progress is by winning all our remaining 3 matches and Inter losing theirs. With our poor record away in Europe, just can't see us beating Barcelona away. No doubt Lloris will be blamed for his stupid red card. But Pochettino should look at himself and his team selection before blaming the players. No other manager in his right frame of mind will drop his most in-form player and start his most off-form player in a must-win CL match. Got demotivated as soon as I saw we were starting Son who had been poor since March instead of Lamela who had been in brilliant form lately. We could have win this match comfortably if Lamela had started as our attack lacked a cutting edge without him. We did dominate the match but failed to make use of our chances apart from the 2 goals. I think we would have won this match if we had scored the magical third goal but we wasted our chances.
Credit to Kane and Moura for the goals. It was a well taken header by Kane for the goal. But this match again shows that Kane relies on headers to score goals now and still wastes too many chances with his feet. Moura deserved to get his goal for all his dribbling skills and runs. It was a deflected goal but Moura badly needed that goal after not scoring in his previous 9 matches for us. Not sure why Son started this match as he had another poor match and has gone without scoring in 20 matches for us now. Lamela really should have started this match as he came on and improved our attack. He was unlucky not to score as his shot hit the post after coming on. But too bad he didn't get any clear chance to score after that. Eriksen did well to assist the goal for Kane with an inch perfect cross but he looked rusty apart from that. In fact, it was Eriksen's mistake which caused Lloris to get red carded.
Our midfield had a mixed match. Dembele and Dier worked hard and dominated the match but failed to stop the PSV attacks at crucial times. I think Wanyama would have helped our defence more than Dier. Similiarly, I think Sissoko would have contributed more than Winks who came on in the second half. In fact, I think Sissoko should have started instead of Dier after playing so well against West Ham. I think Sissoko's work rate would have helped our defence more.
Our defence have been poor all season and it has cost us dearly in this match. After keeping 3 consecutive clean sheets in the league, thought we would do well to stop PSV but we made too many crucial mistakes in defence. No doubt we badly missed Vertonghen but it was no excuse to make the blunders we did. Firstly, Alderweireld's weak back pass caused them to score their first goal despite him trying his best to stop it. This is why I hate to see us making unnecessary back pass to the goalie. Then it was Lloris' turn to make the biggest blunder of the match when he came out too early and fouled the PSV player, causing him to get red carded. There was no need for Lloris to come out very far like that. Despite being the France and Spurs captain, Lloris have simply made too many crucial mistakes over the last few years. Even with us down to 10 men, there was still chance for us to win the match. Vorm did well to make a good save from the freekick but our entire defence went missing for their second goal.
This is why we will never win a trophy under Pochettino as he doesn't seem to have the right approach in Cup matches. He either seems to chop and change too many first 11 players in Cup matches or tends to be too loyal to the same players despite being in poor form. Remember, Son also started and Lamela was dropped against Juventus last season when we lost 2-1 in the CL Round of 16 second leg match. Pochettino should have learned from that match that we cannot afford to rest Lamela in crucial Cup matches. Instead, Pochettino made the same mistake and it cost us dearly in the CL for the second consecutive season.
