Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes of Champions League progression ended in a whimper on Wednesday evening, with the Lilywhites crashing out of the competition following a drab, goalless draw at home to AC Milan.
With the tie finely poised following the narrow, 1-0 win for the Serie A side in the first leg at San Siro, Antonio Conte’s side should well have been more than capable of overturning that deficit, although proceeded to produce a simply “pathetic” performance, in the words of journalist Josh Bunting, to ensure that the wait to end the club’s long-running trophy drought is set to continue for another season.
On a night in which the hosts registered just two shots on target having offered as much fight as that of a deflated balloon, the woes of the hosts were compounded late on as erratic defender Cristian Romero was dismissed for a second yellow card, with the Argentine brute inexplicably lunging in on Theo Hernandez on the touchline.
That head-scratching challenge saw the World Cup winner dubbed a “clown” and “utterly unprofessional” by presenter Terry Flewers, while journalist Jan Aage Fjortoft noted that seeing the 24-year-old being shown his marching orders was “as predictable as Hallelujah in a church”.
The frustrating “liability” – as described by ex-Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara – was not the only figure to have yet again let the side down against the Rossoneri, with misfiring forward Heung-min Son again producing an ineffectual display from the flanks.
How did Son perform against Milan?
Having swooped the Premier League Golden Boot last season with 23 top-flight goals to his name, the South Korean sensation has looked a shadow of his former self so far this term, failing to even reach double figures for goals in all competitions.
As The Athletic’s Charlie Eccleshare stated, the 30-year-old – as well as teammate Dejan Kulusevski – look “so off where they were last season”, with the former Bayer Leverkusen man, in particular, having been ‘really poor’ against Stefano Pioli’s side, according to football.london’s Alasdair Gold.
That dismal outing notably saw Son squander possession on 13 occasions from his 38 touches and provide just one key pass in total, having also offered little in the way of an attacking threat after failing to complete any of his four crosses.
Those woes were also mirrored in a defensive sense as the £190k-per-week man was only able to win two of his 11 total duels and was dribbled past on two occasions, with his meagre match rating of 6.3, as per Sofascore, the second-worst of any Tottenham player on the day, ahead of only the aforementioned Romero (6.1).
As such, it is not too hyperbolic to suggest that that pairing were the key villains in costing the club a place in the quarter-finals, having proven particularly underwhelming at both ends of the pitch in their own right.
Just 24 hours on from seeing rivals Chelsea power their way into the last eight with a second-leg comeback over Borussia Dortmund at Stamford Bridge, Spurs were unable to follow suit as they meekly bowed out without so much as laying a glove on the Italian champions.
With speculation already rife regarding the future of Conte – as well as that of talisman Harry Kane – it is difficult to see just where the club goes from here after last night’s abject performance, both over the coming months and beyond.
