Ange's blushes saved on Scottish return; Man Utd's stunning ...

Dejan Kulusevski equaliser and a stunning stop from Fraser Forster saved Tottenham’s blushes as Ange Postecoglou’s side drew 1-1 with Rangers in their Europa League clash in Glasgow.

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The result takes Spurs to 11 points from six games, and they sit ninth, only on goal difference out of the top eight, who automatically progress to the knockout rounds, with two league phases matches to come in the new year.

A draw means Tottenham remain winless in their last three Europa League contests, and they have only won once in their last eight matches in all competitions, but for much of the night, things looked like they would play out much worse.

“It’s fair to say we’re in a bit of a struggle,” Postecoglou said post-match.

The Australian manager has been under intense scrutiny this week after back-to-back Premier League losses, and the former Celtic boss’ heart must have been in his mouth when Rangers were through on goal in the 86th minute.

Cyriel Dessers barged his way past several defenders to get a shot away, but Forster stayed big and pulled off a brilliant piece of goal keeping, not for the first time in the match, to tip the ball wide and deny the home side.

Only a minute later, the Ibrox descended into raptures as Dessers found the back of the net this time, but the celebrations were short-lived as the linesperson’s flag was up, and replays showed he was well offside.

Those chances for Rangers were brewing all night, whereas Kulusevski’s equaliser seemingly came from nowhere.

Spurs were patiently playing the ball around at the back for more than a minute before attacking down the right and Kulusevski took matters into his own hands to score in the 75th minute.

The Swede cut back, found fellow substitute Dominic Solanke in the box, continued his run, received the ball back from Solanke and slotted it home with a left foot, first-time shot from near the edge of the penalty area.

Things were looking dire for Tottenham before Kulusevski’s brilliant run as they went unpunished for their sloppiness in the first half, but it took less than two minutes after the break for Rangers to finally capitalise on yet another Spurs error.

They coughed up the ball in midfield, and right back James Tavernier broke down the right-hand side, whipped a beautiful, curling ball in the box to pick out front man Hamza Igamane in the box, and the Moroccan slammed the half-volley into the bottom corner.

The third-placed side in the Scottish Premiership looked more threatening for most of the evening, and the home supporters relished watching their team take it up to an English side.

It was the first time Spurs has travelled north to face Rangers in a competitive fixture since the 1960s, and the last time the blue half of Glasgow hosted a Premier League outfit, they were humiliated 7-1 by Liverpool.

That was in a Champions League contest in 2022 when Mohamed Salah came off the bench to score a stunning six minute hat trick, and it was arguably the most disastrous night of decades of heartbreak against English opposition in European competition, having not beaten a team from south of the border since getting the better of Leeds United in 1992.

For most of the freezing cold evening, it appeared as if that streak might be broken but Rangers ultimately did not make the most of the 15 shots they took, six of which were on target.

Both sides looked like they would be made to pay for their sloppiness with the ball throughout the first half as they each had threatening opportunities on the counter attack, but lacked the poise to finish.

It was a back-and-forth, end-to-end contest with Tottenham having more of the ball but their makeshift defence looked incredibly vulnerable at times.

Teenager Archie Gray, who typically plays right back, started alongside Ragu Dragusin as a central defender due to Spurs’ injury woes but it was goal keeper Forster who repelled Rangers’ attacks best with two excellent first half saves.

The former Celtic shot stopper was booed and jeered extensively by the home fans, but kept his cool to tip a bullet from Nedim Bajrami over the bar in the 10th minute before ensuring they headed to the sheds deadlocked with an excellent save with his feet from a Vaclav Cerny shot in the final minute of the half.

Rangers came out hard and finished the opening stanza the better of the two sides, while Tottenham controlled the middle period of the opening half.

The home side lost centre back John Souttar, who is the brother of Socceroo Harry, in the 34th minute to a groin injury and it appeared as if a change at the back might open things up for Spurs.

They had their chances but only one of their six first half shots was on target, and that was a tame shot from Son Heung-min, who started up front with Timo Werner, James Maddison and Brennan Johnson sitting behind him, in a change of formation from Postecoglou.

The much-maligned Werner was benched at half time for goal scorer Dejan Kulusevski, while Johnson last an hour before making for Dominic Solanke, and Postecoglou took the unusual step of publicly expressing his frustrations with Werner post-match.

“He wasn’t playing anywhere near the levels he can. It’s not acceptable to me. I told him that. He’s a senior international, a German international,” he said.

“In the moment we’re in now, I need everyone to be at least going out there and giving the best they can. What he produced wasn’t acceptable. I expect more from the senior players like him.”

Spurs seem to be in a funk in attack, and with a trip to Southampton, a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester United and a visit from Premier League leaders Liverpool before Christmas, they will need to break it fast to get back to winning ways.

SUPER SUBSTITUTE INSPIRES MAN UTD COMEBACK

Second-half substitute Rasmus Hojlund scored twice as Manchester United fought back to earn a 2-1 win at Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday.

The hosts took the lead shortly after half-time, but Hojlund levelled on 62 minutes, six minutes after replacing Marcus Rashford, when the Danish striker tapped in Amad Diallo’s deflected shot.

Two minutes from time, he beat Plzen goalkeeper Martin Jedlicka again with a clinical finish, turning around his marker after United captain Bruno Fernandes had found him inside the box with a clever free-kick.

Matej Vydra, a former Watford, West Brom, Reading, Derby and Burnley forward, opened the scoring for the hosts with a close-range finish three minutes after half-time.

Pavel Sulc found Vydra facing an empty net after he had intercepted United goalkeeper Andre Onana’s pass inside the box.

The goal was a wake-up call for United manager Ruben Amorim, who made three replacements in its wake, including Hojlund.

“It was not a great game,” said Amorim, before praising the substitutes. “They changed the game. They are there to do that so I’m pleased with that.”

He added he was happy with the outcome: “It was important not to give up so that is a great message.”

The former Sporting Lisbon boss replaced the sacked Eric ten Hag in November, but the chilly evening in Plzen showed United still have some way to go.

Both teams came into the match with nine points from five Europa League games, and they took time to find their pace.

Fernandes had the first shot on target half an hour into the game, but Jedlicka parried his low right-footed effort from the edge of the box.Onana watched Cheick Souare’s shot curl just past the top corner of his goal two minutes before the break.

United substitutes Mason Mount and Antony were denied by Jedlicka in the second half, with Mount failing to beat the ‘keeper twice from close range.

But Hojlund turned the match on its head to put United in a strong position for direct qualification to the last 16.

“We didn’t have so much time to work on this type of game. We were controlling the game but didn’t have the pace (in the first half),” said Amorim.

“We want to improve and we want to improve really fast,” he added. United next face Rangers at Old Trafford on January 23.