Harry Kane blasts ‘immature mistakes’ in Tottenham’s shock Europa Conference League loss
Harry Kane blamed “immature mistakes” for Tottenham’s humiliating Europa Conference League defeat to NS Mura, but refused to criticise young teammate Ryan Sessegnon after his red card forced Spurs to play an hour of the contest with ten men.
Spurs succumbed to a 2-1 defeat against the Slovenian minnows in Maribor, with Kane calling the performance “unacceptable”.
The England captain had equalised after Tomi Horvat’s 11th-minute opener, but a breakaway winner from substitute Amadej Marosa in stoppage time earned Mura their biggest win in their history to leave Spurs needing to beat Rennes in their final fixture to be sure of even qualifying for the knockout round playoff.
“We didn’t start well, went behind and then have gone down to 10 men and made it difficult for ourselves,” Kane said. “In the second-half we showed some fight and spirit and got ourselves back into the game and if anyone looked like scoring it was going to be us, but [it was] an immature mistake at the end to concede a goal when we had all the play. It is unacceptable.
“We were favourites to win this game but we knew we had to get it right. We knew they were a good side, we knew we had to be on it in all aspects and mentality was definitely the main one.
“We made some immature mistakes and got punished for them and that’s what happens in Europe. All we can say is sorry to the travelling fans, sorry to the fans back home but we just have to keep working hard and turn things around.”
Sessegnon was making his first start since August after returning from injury and had been touted as one of the players most likely to benefit from Antonio Conte’s appointment, given the Italian’s reputation for employing attacking wing-backs.
However, the 21-year-old endured a nightmare evening as he was shown two yellow cards inside the opening 32 minutes, to leave his side chasing a comeback with ten men.
“He’s young and has not had too many European games,” Kane added. “The referees are different, the atmosphere is different. He is devastated but he is a young kid and will learn from it for sure.
“It is about getting around each other and helping each other. He has been working very hard, he’ll bounce back and will be available for us and I am sure the next time he gets on the pitch he will do everything to help us.”
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