Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe midfielder cut inside and lashed home from the edge of the box, diving into the crowd to celebrate with delirious fans.<\/p>\n
But Brighton were not finished, pouring forward in search of an equaliser. They had their reward when substitute Rutter smashed Van Hecke\u2019s cutback into the top corner in the 95th minute, leaving Spurs players distraught. <\/p>\n
Tottenham are facing an almost unthinkable relegation nearly half a century after they suffered a similar fate. <\/p>\n
The club won the Europa League last season under Ange Postecoglou but dispensed with the Australian\u2019s services after finishing17th in the league. <\/p>\n
They signed former Brentford boss Thomas Frank but sacked the Dane in February, ushering in an ill-fated short stint for interimboss Igor Tudor. <\/p>\n
Spurs are the ninth-wealthiest club in the world, according to Deloitte\u2019s latest rankings, underlining the extraordinary nature of their predicament<\/p>\n
De Zerbi, taking charge of his first home game, admitted the draw felt like a defeat but said his team had the quality to win all five of their remaining games. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not finished yet, we have another five games, it\u2019s tough,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone of us knows it\u2019s a tough moment, it\u2019s a difficult situation, but we have another five games, 15 points. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this team is able to win five games in a row.\u201d The Italian urged his players, who looked distraught at the end of thematch, to believe in him. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey have to follow me, they have not to think, they have to follow me and to listen to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Tottenham Hotspur’s Pedro Porro appears dejected after the final whistle. (Jordan Pettitt\/PA via AP)<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cI\u2019m proud of their performance, they have to be stronger and to be focused just on the Wolverhampton game (next week).<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd to come to the training ground on Monday afternoon with a smile, because otherwise they go home immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no time to see negative people, to see sad players or sad assistants. No, we are lucky because we are working in abig club, a big stadium, we are working in the Premier League.\u201d After the game at Wolves, Spurs have matches to come against Aston Villa, Leeds, Chelsea and Everton. <\/p>\n
The squad is packed with quality but despite De Zerbi\u2019s positive words, their chances of survival look increasingly bleak.<\/p>\n
– Winless Spurs –<\/b><\/p>\n
Tottenham have forgotten how to win in the league — failing to pick up a victory since December. <\/p>\n
Adding to their problems, Forest, who host relegation-bound Burnley on Sunday, and West Ham, who travel to Crystal Palacea day later, are regularly picking up vital points. <\/p>\n
Leeds beat Wolves 3-0 on Saturday and are now eight points clear of danger. De Zerbi, brought in earlier this month as Tottenham\u2019sthird head coach of the season, has an incredibly difficult task despite encouraging signs against Brighton. <\/p>\n
But he urged his men to have belief and play with adventure. \u201cNow we need courage, now we need to win the game and to winthe game we have to be positive and to play football with the ball and not stay just to defend 11 players and going counter-attack,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, who is chasing a European spot next season, certainly feels the London side have the qualityto survive. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey have unbelievable players in their squad,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have in their front line players who can make a differencewith one action, and that\u2019s what they showed today. <\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore, I think they have enough quality in their squad to make it happen.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Roberto De Zerbi has five games to save Tottenham from the unthinkable nightmare of relegation from the Premier League after his first home game at the helm ended in a costly 2-2 draw against Brighton. Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":239172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-239171","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}