Will Lankshear endured a rollercoaster night in front of a raucous Rams Park crowd after he was sent off in Tottenham’s 3-2 loss at Galatasaray in the Europa League.
Lankshear scored his first goal for the club in the 18th minute to cancel out Yunus Akgun’s sixth-minute opener.
However, the 19-year-old forward received two bookings in quick succession after half-time to earn a maiden red card in professional football.
Things go from bad to worse for Tottenham 😬
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 7, 2024
19-year-old Will Lankshear receives a second yellow card and is sent off for Spurs 🟥
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Spurs were already 3-1 down at this point after a first-half double by Victor Osimhen, but Ange Postecoglou turned to his bench and watched Dominic Solanke score in the 69th minute to set up a grandstand finish.
It was too much of an ask for Tottenham’s 10 men, though, as Galatasaray held on to leapfrog them in the Europa League table.
Postecoglou made seven changes from Sunday’s win over Aston Villa with three teenagers in Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Lankshear included in the starting line-up.
A cauldron of noise greeted the Spurs players for the warm-up and it was even louder when play got under way.
Every touch by a visiting player was whistled but they soon turned to celebrations when Akgun fired the hosts ahead with a swerving half-volley from 25 yards after Gray partially headed clear a free-kick.
Fraser Forster had to slide in on Osimhen soon after following a poor back pass by Bergvall, but Tottenham regrouped and levelled after 18 minutes.
Gray brought the ball forward and wonderfully chipped over the Galatasaray defence into the path of Brennan Johnson, who squared for Lankshear to divert the ball in at the back post.
It was not the slickest finish from Lankshear as his effort from close range ballooned into the roof of the net, but it was a moment to savour for him.
Spurs’ respite did not last long and Osimhen punished them with two goals in eight minutes.
After Forster had produced a fine low save to thwart Osimhen, he had the ball in the net on the half an hour mark but was flagged for offside.
The Napoli loanee would not be denied and scored in the 32nd minute after a gift from Tottenham.
Bergvall initially dallied on the ball before Radu Dragusin was inexplicably dispossessed, which allowed Dries Mertens to send Osimhen away to poke past Forster.
Osimhen then made it 3-1 when he got in behind Dragusin and steered Mertens’ cross into the bottom corner.
Postecoglou sent for Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski at half-time, with Johnson and Son replaced in a nod to Sunday’s visit of Ipswich.
It failed to stem the tide as Bentancur blocked Mauro Icardi’s effort on the line after Forster dropped a cross before the Spurs goalkeeper atoned with a brilliant stop to deny Osimhen his hat-trick.
Is a comeback on the cards? 👀
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 7, 2024
Dominic Solanke with a smooth back-heel finish to pull a goal back for Tottenham 👏✨
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Kulusevski fashioned a chance for Lankshear moments later, but he fired straight at Fernando Muslera and his night turned sour after an hour.
Moments after Lankshear was booked for bringing down ex-Spurs defender Davinson Sanchez, he dived into a challenge with Sara by the halfway line.
It left referee Lawrence Visser with a decision to make and he showed the teenage forward a second yellow card, which left Postecoglou bemused.
Nevertheless, the Tottenham boss refused to take a backwards step and brought on Pape Sarr and Solanke for disappointing duo Bergvall and James Maddison.
It worked perfectly as the visitors reduced the deficit with 21 minutes left when Kulusevski threaded into Pedro Porro, who picked out Solanke to back flick beyond Muslera for his sixth goal of the season.
There would be no dramatic finale, though, as Kulusevski sent a long-range effort wide and Spurs suffered a first defeat in Europe this season.
