Eriksen grabs Spurs draw to spoil Higuain show
14 Feb 2018 5:12 PM GMT
Turin: Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen pulled Tottenham back from the brink to hold Juventus 2-2 in Turin, spoiling what had looked set to be a Gonzalo Higuain one-man show in the Champions League last 16, first leg here on Wednesday.
Higuain had put Juventus — losing finalists twice in the past three seasons — two goals up within the first nine minutes at the Allianz Stadium.
The Argentine's lightning strike after just 73 seconds was followed by a second from the spot to leave Mauricio Pochettino's English side reeling.
But the 30-year-old missed two further chances to hammer home Juventus's advantage in the first half, with striking the crossbar with a second penalty on the stroke of half-time.
Kane had pulled Tottenham back into the tie, beating veteran keeper Gianluigi Buffon on 35 minutes with Eriksen whipping in the second with a 70th-minute free-kick to leave it all to play for in London next month.
"The team showed real character to come here and challenge a team like Juventus," said Pochettino who blamed the inexperience of his side for their sluggish start.
"I think we weren't focused and it was difficult to manage the first seven minutes. I'm very happy that it's still open and we're going to play the second leg in London."
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri warned they would be ready to challenge again for a place in the quarter-finals after extending their unbeaten run at home in Champions League fixtures to 23 games. "I don't think there is any need to be depressed. If someone thought that Juventus could win 4-0 they were way off," said Allegri.
"Tottenham had a great game and turned things around. After going 2-0 up we stopped playing, but part of that was also down to Tottenham's performance. They are a very physical and technical team." Pochettino's side looked down and out after the first ten minutes with Miralem Pjanic lifting a free-kick into the penalty area and an unmarked Higuain volleying past Hugo Lloris, despite being in an offside position.
Higuain's second came from a penalty after Ben Davies fouled Federico Bernardeschi, with Lloris diving the right way but unable to stop the powerful drive. Higuain almost had a
hat-trick, picking up a Pjanic pass to outfox two Spurs defenders only to shoot just wide.
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