Nuno gamble backfires as Vitesse stun Tottenham’s second-string

The Tottenham manager, Nuno Espírito Santo, says his side can still qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League despite their loss to Vitesse.

Nuno changed his entire starting XI in order to prepare for Sunday’s Premier League match with West Ham and his second-string side were undone by Maximilian Wittek’s 78th-minute strike.

Spurs still had nine international players but were never really in the game and Bryan Gil’s shot that hit the bar was their only moment of note.

The result leaves them in third in Group G, two points behind Vitesse and three behind the leaders, Rennes, at the halfway stage.

With the return fixture against the Dutch side in a fortnight and then a trip to Mura, the weakest team in the competition, to come, Nuno decided that leaving his most important players back home was a risk worth taking.

“You have to discuss the options, the decision was made,” he said. “We took a little moment to decide and we decided to bring the players that started, with the Under-23s to give us support.

“It was a tough match, tough like we expected. Always away from home in Europe in the Conference League is tough. We compete well, in terms of attack we should finish the actions better. Some combinations were missing.

“There was a period in the second half when we lost a little bit of control but in terms of lack of focus in the moment of the goal, details that we should improve like we always do.

“In terms of the group we have two games at home against Vitesse and Rennes and then we have to play Mura. We can solve the situation of the group.”

Vitesse started well and in the third minute Nikolai Baden Frederiksen forced Pierluigi Gollini into a save with his feet after being played in, before Jacob Rasmussen flashed a header just wide from a corner.

Unsurprisingly given the amount of changes, Spurs were not up to much in an attacking sense in the first half, with the teenage striker Dane Scarlett up against it in a lone role.

They immediately showed more after the break, though, and were within inches of taking the lead in the 47th minute.

Giovani Lo Celso showed why he is becoming a key player for Argentina as he went on an enterprising dribble before laying it off for Gil, whose first-time shot rattled the crossbar.

That was as good as it got for Spurs, who were pinned further and further back as the second half wore on. Eli Dasa twice went close with efforts from distance, with the second bringing a smart stop out of Gollini.

It was no surprise when the goal came 12 minutes from time as Wittek brilliantly volleyed home Dasa’s cross from the edge of the area to send the home crowd wild.

Although none of the players who played are likely to start against West Ham, Nuno insisted this was not his second XI.

“I don’t consider it this way,” he said. “A football match is always a chance to compete. Our approach is always the same, we expect our players to compete in all the matches, no matter the competition.

“That is not the question. It’s about having minutes, compete, improve because like you know we have a tough, tough schedule ahead of us and we will need all the players in the best condition as possible.”