Europa League: Spurs fury at racist banner
PARTIZAN BELGRADE 0 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0
PARTIZAN Belgrade could face Uefa sanctions after Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino last night condemned a banner with an anti-Semitic message displayed by home fans during the Europa League Group C tie.
In a game of few chances, Spurs went closest to nabbing the points inside 60 seconds but Harry Kane’s attempt rattled the crossbar.
The game was overshadowed though by the conduct of some Partizan fans, who saw their team kicked out of the 2007/08 competition after 36 people were injured during clashes inside the stadium in a first qualifying round match against Bosnian minnows Zrinjski Mostar.
“It is very disrespectful, unacceptable and a massive problem for us,” said Pochettino. “I didn’t see it myself, but the club is aware.”
Spurs, who made 10 changes to the side that drew with Sunderland on Saturday, handed full debuts to defender Federico Fazio and midfielder Benjamin Stambouli.
The visitors dominated the first half but lacked creativity and failed to register a single effort on target during 90 minutes on a poor pitch, though Kane saw an effort from a tight angle hit the woodwork.
At the other end, captain for the night Hugo Lloris blocked 17-year-old Danilo Pantic’s effort in a dour draw.
“I think that the result was fair,” added Pochettino.
“I think that Partizan in the second half played well and we did well in the first half.”