A pair of
stunning second-half saves from Hugo Lloris salvaged a precious point for
Tottenham Hotspur as they held European champions Real Madrid 1-1 at the
Santi
ago Bernabeu on Tuesday.
Both sides
remain unbeaten in this season’s Champions League and well placed to progress
to the last 16. They each have seven points after Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty
cancelled out Raphael Varane’s own goal in the first period.
The sides
meet again with top spot in Group H on the line at Wembley on November 1.
Borussia
Dortmund’s 1-1 draw at APOEL Nicosia means the Germans and Cypriots remain six
points adrift of the group leaders.
An
entertaining encounter got off to a flying start as 18-year-old Achraf Hakimi —
on his Champions League debut for Real — teed up Ronaldo to head off the post
and Karim Benzema pulled the rebound wide with the goal gaping.
After a
nervous opening 10 minutes, though, Tottenham settled with Harry Kane
predictably a constant threat up front.
The English
international’s sensational form saw him labelled a “complete player” by Madrid
coach Zinedine Zidane on the eve of the game, fuelling speculation he could
follow Luka Modric and Gareth Bale’s lead in making a move to Madrid in the
future.
Kane’s
downward header was turned over by Keylor Navas before he broke free down the
left and, from his cross, Fernando Llorente appeared to be chopped down by
Casemiro inside the area, but Polish referee Szymon Marciniak was unmoved.
Despite
failing to get the final touch, Kane was involved once more when Spurs went in
front on 28 minutes as Varane turned Serge Aurier’s cross into his own net
under pressure from the striker.
Aurier
himself then had a long-range effort turned behind by Navas.
And Madrid’s
frustrations shone through when Ronaldo was booked for a petulant slap on Jan
Vertonghen.
However,
Real demonstrated why they have won this competition for the past two seasons
by restoring order and parity before the break.
A flowing
team move put Toni Kroos clean through and when he was upended by Aurier,
Ronaldo stepped up to bury the resulting penalty.
Spurs were
then bailed out by two outstanding saves from Lloris after the restart.
The French
captain’s outstretched leg diverted Benzema’s powerful header from point-blank
range to safety, much to his former international team-mate’s dismay.
And Ronaldo
then couldn’t believe his eyes as Lloris leapt to turn over his rising drive
which was headed for the top corner.
A hugely
entertaining game continued to swing from end to end and it was the visitors
who had the better chances to take all three points in the final 20 minutes.
Kane had the
best opportunity when he was picked out by Llorente’s fine pass, but Navas
spread himself well to divert the ball behind.
And the
Costa Rican had to be alert again moments later to prevent Christian Eriksen’s
drive sneaking in at the near post.
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