TOTTENHAM REQUIRED A second-half strike by substitute Dejan Kulusevski to earn a 1-1 draw with Rangers in a pulsating Europa League clash at Ibrox.
Former Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou was under the spotlight after just one win in seven and his side were more than matched by a combative Gers side amid a terrific atmosphere.
The Light Blues took the lead two minutes into the second half through a terrific strike by in-form Moroccan striker Humza Igamane, his fifth goal in five games.
Tottenham had to hold on grimly in the face of constant Gers pressure but half-time replacement Kulusevski equalised in the 75th minute with former Parkhead keeper Fraser Forster ending a fine night’s work by making a terrific save late the game from Gers substitute Cyriel Dessers to take the point back south.
Both sides moved on to 11 points from 18 with two fixtures remaining and still on course for the knockout stages but the Light Blues will take huge confidence from their performance into Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup final against Celtic at Hampden Park.
After Spurs enjoyed a pre-match huddle in front of their travelling support, both sides went at each other.
Forster made fine saves from drives from Nedim Bajrami and Vaclav Cerny, twice, while Gers keeper Jack Butland thwarted Tottenham captain Heung-Min Son and Brennan Johnson, also at close range.
Amid an expansive first half, John Souttar had to be replaced by Leon Balogun but the Gers fans were heartened by the interval, where Postocoglou replaced the ineffective Timo Werner with Kulusevski who barely had time to settle before Spurs fell behind.
Gers skipper James Tavernier dinked a ball over the Tottenham defence and Igamane drilled the ball behind Forster from just inside the box to send most of Ibrox into raptures.
Spurs wobbled and Ibrox rocked as Rangers went for number two with Cerny probing again.
In the 53rd minute, as Spurs responded, Pedro Porro fired over the bar as a warning to the home side.
Postecoglou took action.
Lucas Bergvall, Dominic Solanke and Pape Sarr come on for Rodrigo Bentancur, Johnson and Yves Bissouma and Spurs regrouped, with Butland forced into a save at his near post from a Pedro Porro volley.
Connor Barron and Dujon Sterling took over from the tiring Bajrami and Sterling in the 68th minute, just before Dejan Kulusevski drilled a left-footed drive low past Butland following a Solanke cut-back, to finish off a slick Spurs move.
The visitors looked more likely to get a second but Rangers fought back again and Forster saved the day for Spurs five minutes from time when he Dessers, on for Igamane and the Gers substitute had the ball in the net moments later, only to be ruled offside.
Europa League Results
Hoffenheim (GER) 0 FCSB (ROM) 0 Ludogorets (BUL) 2 (Chochev 60, Duah 63) AZ Alkmaar (NED) 2 (Van Bommel 13, Maikuma 19) Malmo 2 (Botheim 24, Pena 90+1) Galatasaray (TUR) 2 (Jelert 43, Akgun 56) Olympiakos (GRE) 0 Twente 0 PAOK (GRE) 5 (Taison 10, Llamas 29, Chalov 76, Zivkovic 80-pen, Despodov 89) Ferencvaros (HUN) 0 Roma (ITA) 3 (Pellegrini 10, Abdulhamid 47, Hermoso 90+1) Sporting Braga (POR) 0 Union Saint-Gilloise (BEL) 2 (Ivanovic 33, 90+2) Nice (FRA) 1 (Guessand 45+1) Ajax (NED) 1 (B. Traore 47) Lazio (ITA) 3 (Tchaouna 12, Dele-Bashiru 52, Pedro 77) Bodo/Glimt (NOR) 2 (Zinckernagel 37, Bjortuft 43) Besiktas (TUR) 1 (Fernandes 21) Elfsborg (SWE) 1 (Qasem 57) Qarabag (AZE) 0 Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR) 2 (Nachmias 16, Stojic 69) Rigas (LAT) 1 (Savalnieks 52) Lyon (FRA) 3 (Cherki 27, Fofana 50, Nuamah 54) Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) 2 (Knauff 19, Marmoush 85) Porto (POR) 2 (Loader 29, Omorodion 56) Midtjylland (DEN) 0 Real Sociedad (ESP) 3 (Oyarzabal 19, 33, Becker 24) Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) 0 Slavia Prague (CZE) 1 (Chory 58) Anderlecht (BEL) 2 (Angulo 8, Verschaeren 31)Conference League Results
Vikingur Reykjavik (ISL) 1 (Sigurpalsson 72) Djurgarden (SWE) 2 (Kosugi 62, Wikheim 65) Dinamo Minsk (BLR) 2 (Gavrilovich 67-pen, Zherdev 73) Larne (NIR) 0 Fiorentina (ITA) 7 (Sottil 10, 58, Ikone 22, Richardson 39, Mandragora 69, Stojkovic 82-og, Gudmundsson 85-pen) LASK (AUT) 0 HJK (FIN) 2 (Erwin 32, Meriluoto 90+2) Molde 2 (NOR) (Ihler 14, 27) Istanbul Basaksehir (TUR) 3 (Turuc 6, Crespo 18, Piatek 68) Heidenheim 1 (GER) (Honsak 61) Copenhagen (DEN) 2 (Chiakha 48, Diks 78-pen) Hearts (SCO) 0 Legia Warsaw (POL) 1 (Morishita 11) Lugano (SUI) 2 (Bottani 40, Hajdari 74) Noah (ARM) 1 (Aias 45+4) APOEL 3 (CYP) (Chebake 23, Kostadinov 89, Abagna 90+3) Olimpija (SLO) 1 (Blanco 5) Cercle Brugge (BEL) 4 (Olaigbe 2, 81, Augusto 24, Denkey 72) Petrocub (MOL) 0 Real Betis (ESP) 1 (Bakambu 54) Gent (BEL) 3 (Max 8-pen, Gandelman 13, Surdez 20) TSC Backa Topola (SRB) 0 Mlada Boleslav (CZE) 1 (Vydra 76) Jagiellonia (POL) 0 Omonia Nicosia (CYP) 3 (Kakoulli 52, Semedo 66, Saidou 90+6) Rapid Vienna (AUT) 1 (Beljo 62) Pafos (CYP) 2 (Dragomir 48, Correia 63) Celje (SLO) 0 St Gallen (SUI) 1 (Csoboth 66) Vitoria Guimaraes (POR) 4 (Mendes 33, Silva 58, Baio 84, Samu 90+4) The New Saints (WAL) 0 Panathinaikos (GRE) 2 (Djuricic 15, Ioannidis 61-pen)
