Crvena zvezda missed their chances and conceded four poor goals in Belgrade against a clinical Tottenham Hotspur side. This resulted in a 4-0 defeat at the hands of last season’s Champions League runners-up.
Ground: Rajko Mitić Stadium
Attendance: 42,381
Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)
Goalscorers: Lo Celso 34’, Son 57’, 61’, Eriksen 85’
Crvena zvezda: Borjan, Gobeljić, Degenek, Milunović, Rodić, Petrović, Jovančić, García, Marin, Van La Parra, Pavkov.
Substitutes: Popović, Pankov, Jander, Cañas, Vulić, Simić, Boakye
Tottenham Hotspur: Gazzaniga, Foyth, Dier, Sanchez, Rose, Ndombele, Sissoko, Dele, Son, Lo Celso, Kane.
Substitutes: Vorm, Alderweireld, Sessegnon, Eriksen, Lucas Moura, Skipp, Davies.
Crvena zvezda hosted the English side hoping that a good result might improve our position in the chase for European football in the second half of the season. Whether it should be in Champions League or Europa League was going to be decided on this wet night in Belgrade.
Mauricio Pochettino brought his Cockerels to Rajko Mitić Stadium determined to grab another win after that convincing 5-0 victory in North London. Boss Vladan Milojević admitted in his pre-match comments that the English side were the clear favorites, but that his team wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Our team started the match with plenty of energy and running, pressing Spurs high and not letting them relax on the ball. The game seemed totally different compared to the London match.
Milan Pavkov has had a golden chance to open the scoring on 23 minutes, but was denied by a classy save from Paulo Gazzaniga. It was a one-on-one for the player who scored twice against Liverpool exactly a year previously.
Zvezda were punished for their missed chance after a swift counter-attack on 34 minutes. Spurs hit both the post and the bar in matter of seconds before Giovani Lo Celso managed to knock the ball in from close range amid lots of confusion in Zvezda’s penalty box.
Zvezda kept going and they probably deserved to be level at the break. Rajiv Van La Parra thought he’d scored when through on goal just before the break, but his low finish bounced of the near post with Gazzaniga beaten. To add insult to injury, the rebound bounded off Davinson Sanchez and off the crossbar just a fraction of a second later. So unlucky!
Second half started with a terrific chance for Zvezda, but Milan Pavkov chose to try a pass when in a good position to shoot. It went downhill after that as Son scored two good goals in space of just four minutes to all but secure another victory for his team.
The match was pretty much over then, but there was still time for substitute Cristian Eriksen to score a late fourth for the English side.