Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was sent off for a moment of madness before Luuk de Jong’s 87th-minute equaliser denied them a Champions League victory over PSV in Eindhoven.
Lloris, the Spurs captain, raced from his goal to bring down home winger Hirving Lozano as the visitors led 2-1 with 11 minutes left.
Former Newcastle forward De Jong then poked in to leave Tottenham still without a win – and like PSV, with only one point – after three of their six Group B matches.
PSV had taken a first-half lead through a deflected Lozano strike, after the Mexican caught a dawdling Toby Alderweireld in possession.
But Lucas Moura then fired in an equaliser five minutes before the break and Harry Kane headed home Christian Eriksen’s cross to put the visitors ahead early in the second half.
Not for the first time in this season’s European campaign, Mauricio Pochettino’s side paid for a late lapse of concentration – leaving them, and PSV, facing an uphill battle to qualify for the last 16.
Spurs’ late jinx strikes again
Pochettino described Tottenham’s trip to PSV as “must-win” before the game, saying “we need to be better than them”.
And although the visitors arguably were the better side on the night, two individual errors cost them.
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First, Alderweireld was dispossessed by the excellent Lozano, who then found the net for the game’s opening goal, with the ball looping in off the Belgian as he got back to make a challenge.
Then Lloris displayed poor judgement, as he flew out of his area late on to bring down Lozano, who was bearing down on goal.
It is perhaps those two moments which define a Spurs European campaign flecked with late slips so far – as they conceded twice in the final five minutes to lose their Group B opener 2-1 to Inter Milan in Italy in September.
Though it could have perhaps been different for Spurs, as Kane headed against the bar in the early stages while Davinson Sanchez saw a goal disallowed with Kane adjudged to be in an offside position.
But Pochettino and his side will at least have an opportunity to right Wednesday’s wrongs when they face PSV at Wembley on 6 November, in a match of crucial importance for both sides.
