Tottenham won a penalty shoot-out after a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Sydney FC in their latest pre-season friendly
It was a useful exercise for Roberto De Zerbi’s men for whom Andy Robertson made his debut and several younger players staked their claim for a regular place in the squad.
Mathys Tel gave Spurs a 29th-minute lead with a superb free-kick but they could not hold on and Takahiro Sekine levelled 10 minutes into the second half.
Former Liverpool full-back Robertson came on after 66 minutes and immediately took the captain’s armband. He could have set up the winner as well but a trademark cross was poked wide by Yang Min-hyeok.
The game went to a shoot-out in which Joe Lacey and Alex Popovic, along with Tottenham’s Jamie Donley, missed, leaving Dane Scarlett to slot home the winning effort.
Tel impresses for Tottenham
Tel was a lively presence in the first-half although his final ball frequently let him down.
The former Bayern Munich winger had seen an early shot saved by Sydney goalkeeper Gus Hoefsloot before Ben Davies saw claims for a penalty waved away four minutes later.
Hoefsloot did well again to repel a Conor Gallagher effort but Spurs’ momentum was stalled by two poor Tel free-kicks and a wayward cross that evaded his team-mates in the area.
Tottenham goalkeeper Martin Dubravka had been a relative bystander for the opening 24 minutes but he was finally called into action to parry clear a long-range effort from Rhys Youlley.
The breakthrough came when Sekine, making his first start for Sydney FC, committed a foul on the edge of the box and Tel whipped a brilliant effort into the top right-hand corner.
Gallagher twice came close to adding to Spurs’ lead with his second effort clipping the post.
There were two moments of concern at the other end approaching half-time, though. Mathias Macallister saw a shot from inside his own half just drift wide with Dubravka backpedalling furiously before Macallister beat the Slovakian to a loose ball, lifting it over the goalkeeper only to see retreating Spurs defenders bundle the ball clear.
Tonali and Robertson introduced by Tottenham
Wantaway midfielder Lucas Bergvall showed a few nice touches but was largely quiet and he was replaced by new signing Sandro Tonali at the break. Kota Takai and Luca Williams-Barnett were also introduced with Davies and Tel making way.
Exciting youngster Williams-Barnett nearly made an instant impression, shifting the ball on to his left foot and cracking an effort against the woodwork.
Spurs’ momentum was lost, however, when Takai’s sloppy pass was latched on to by Sekine and he made no mistake.
Further changes saw Robertson, Mason Melia, Yang, Donley and Scarlett come on and while Robertson and Williams-Barnett were impressive, the game petered out into a stalemate.
Tottenham’s remaining pre-season programme
1 August: Tottenham v Chelsea (Accor Stadium, Sydney, 1045am)
8 August: Tottenham v Getafe (behind closed doors)
15 August: Tottenham v Hoffenheim (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, 3pm)
16 August: Tottenham v Hoffenheim (behind closed doors)
