Tottenham vs. Partizan Belgrade: Winners and Losers from Europa League Game
Tottenham Hotspur are through to the knockout stages of the Europa League following Thursday's 1-0 win over Partizan Belgrade at White Hart Lane.
Benjamin Stambouli scored the only goal of the contest shortly after the restart, although his tally was largely overshadowed by the trio of pitch invasions that interrupted the first half.
Overall, a handful of players stood out with meaningful displays in north London while others were rather less impressive.
Following are the individual winners and losers from the encounter.
Winner: Sasa Markovic, Who Led Partizan's Midfield Fight
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Sasa Markovic has yet to break into the senior Serbia team, but manager Radovan Curcic will surely have his eye on the 23-year-old following an impressive performance in London on Thursday.
Markovic spent the majority of the 90 minutes on the defensive side of the ball. But rarely did he allow Tottenham Hotspur a route through the centre of the park, and he contributed a team-high five tackles for Partizan Belgrade, per WhoScored.com.
He also passed the ball efficiently, completing 86 percent of his passes—many of them made under considerable pressure.
Loser: Referee Yevhen Aranovskiy, Who Changed His Mind on a Penalty Decision
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Harry Kane should have won a Tottenham penalty in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.
In fact, Ukrainian referee Yevhen Aranovskiy signalled as much after the Spurs striker was brought down by Lazar Cirkovic.
He should have stuck to his initial decision.
Instead, Aranovskiy deferred to his assistant, who incorrectly ruled in favour of the Partizan Belgrade defender.
The hosts were 1-0 up at that point, but the match wasn't over. And the botched call could conceivably have made a major impact.
Winner: Benjamin Stambouli, Who Was Spurs' Best Player
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In the 49th minute Benjamin Stambouli did what teammate Roberto Soldado simply could not do when he opened the scoring for Tottenham Hotspur.
Soldado, who missed a hatful of chances before being withdrawn in the second half, had hit the upright following a good piece of Tottenham buildup and then watched as Stambouli finished off the chance he himself should have converted.
Stambouli also imposed himself in the centre of the park, especially in the second period, and touched the ball a match-high 105 times, completing 88 percent of his passes.
Losers: The Pitch Invaders, Who Could Have Spurs in Some Trouble
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In the 41st minute and after a third pitch invasion, referee Yevhen Aranovskiy led both sets of players back down the tunnel.
Thursday's match was halted for 10 minutes, and Tottenham Hotspur will have been especially perturbed by the incidents.
As reported by Mike Walters and Ed Malyon of the Mirror, all three invaders were wearing T-shirts sporting the logo of the club's official headphones partner.
Invading the pitch is a criminal offense in the United Kingdom.
Winner: Milan Lukac, Who Kept Partizan in the Match Until the End
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He didn't have much to do in the first half, but Milan Lukac was a busy boy in the second.
Although he allowed Benjamin Stambouli to open the scoring in the 49th minute, the Partizan Belgrade goalkeeper was generally sensational and by the final whistle had made several outstanding saves.
In the 73rd minute he did well to dive to his right and keep Harry Kane's free-kick from extending Spurs' lead, and just seconds later he leaped into the air to prevent a Lazar Cirkovic deflection from breaching the goal.
Loser: Roberto Soldado, Who Was Appalling in Front of Goal
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Roberto Soldado has scored two goals this season. Two. Neither of which came on Thursday against Partizan Belgrade.
The 29-year-old was simply atrocious in front of goal at White Hart Lane, and even on the opener it was his shot off the upright that allowed Benjamin Stambouli to stab the ball into the back of the net.
He even struggled to trip up the first pitch invader.
As statistical Twitter account EPL Stat Man pointed out, "Soldado tried to trip up one of the pitch invaders and missed! Sums him up perfectly."
Statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com.
