Tottenham’s disappointing start to the season hit a new low as it suffered an embarrassing League Cup third-round defeat on penalties at fourth-tier Colchester on Tuesday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mauricio Pochettino’s side was held to a 0-0 draw in normal time before losing 4-3 on penalties against opponent currently 10th in League Two.
Christian Eriksen’s opening spot-kick was saved and Lucas Moura hit the crossbar before Tom Lapslie scored the winning penalty to spark a pitch invasion from Colchester’s jubilant fans. It was the first time Tottenham manager Pochettino had been knocked out of a domestic cup competition against lower-league opposition.
The shock defeat extended Tottenham’s poor run, which included a 2-1 loss at Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Colchester made a fantastic game, it was difficult. We are so disappointed we could not score in 90 minutes,” Pochettino said.
“That’s the beauty of the competition, always something can happen. We wanted to go further but we are out.”
After finishing as Champions League runner-up last season, Tottenham was expected to kick on this season but instead it has struggled to find any consistency.
Pochettino has grumbled about the distractions of the transfer window.
The results :
League Cup: (Third round) : Arsenal 5 (Martinelli 31, 90, Holding 71, Willock 77, Nelson 84) bt Nottingham Forest 0; Colchester 0 drew with Tottenham 0 (Colchester won 4-3 on penalties) ; Preston 0 lost to Manchester City 3 (Sterling 20, Jesus 35, Ledson 42-og); Sheffield Wednesday 0 lost to Everton 2 (Calvert-Lewin 6, 10); Watford 2 (Welbeck 28, Pereyra 79) bt Swansea 1 (Surridge 34); Crawley 1 (Ferguson 38) drew with Stoke 1 (Vokes 23); (Crawley won 5-3 on penalties) ; Luton 0 lost to Leicester 4 (Gray 34, Justin 44, Tielemans 79, Iheanacho 86); Portsmouth 0 lost to Southampton 4 (Ings 21, 44, Cedric 77, Redmond 87).