Vitesse was unable to stunt again against Tottenham Hotspur in the Conference League on Thursday. Two weeks after the surprising 1-0 win over the English, the team of coach Thomas Letsch lost 3-2 in North London. At the spectacular duel, in which Antonio Conte made his debut as trainer of the Spurs made five goals before half-time and three red cards in the second half. Letsch thought that Vitesse had received too little. “We deserved more”, the Vitesse trainer judged after the showdown in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham already led 3-0 after 28 minutes via hits from Heung-min Son, Lucas Moura and an own goal from Jacob Rasmussen. Vitesse came back nicely before the break to 3-2 via Rasmussen and Matús Bero. After less than an hour of play, Cristian Romero received his second yellow card and Vitesse had the prospect of a new stunt. There was no point anymore, also because of red cards for Danilho Doekhi and goalkeeper Markus Schubert in the final phase. “We have created far more chances than anyone expected from us here at Tottenham. I think we were the better team in both games. And we won once and now we have lost by a goal. We can be proud. I feel two things: disappointment and pride,” Letsch emphasized.
“I’m really proud of how we played. It was good in the beginning. But we made sloppy mistakes in the back, which are punished by players of this quality.” Vitesse then narrowed the disadvantage by scoring twice. “That was great,” Letsch continued. “At the 3-0 I got a strange feeling, I dare to admit that. But we kept to the plan, didn’t give up and Rasmussen’s quick goal was important. And after that we only played better.”
Doekhi was a bit shocked by the intensity in the opening phase. “Everything happened. It was a bit scary in terms of intensity. That was a few levels higher, but we adapted well after that,” the defender-cum-captain told ESPN. “We had a good comeback by keeping the spaces small and close to each other. We felt it was really possible tonight. We were the better team for a while, but unfortunately we didn’t score again.”
In the final phase, Doekhi was booked twice within five minutes and shortly afterwards Schubert also had to leave the field with a red card due to hands outside his penalty area. With nine men Vitesse was no longer able to really turn on. “You know that after a red card for them he is also more likely to give us red too, so that was not smart”, Doekhi put his hand into his own bosom. “After that it got a lot more difficult, but I am proud of what we have achieved as a team.”
Vitesse is now third in Group G of the Conference League. The gap to number two Tottenham is one point. Leader Stade Rennes won 1-0 against NS Mura with a late goal and has four points more than Vitesse. “The starting point against Rennes is clear”, Letsch referred to the next match in Europe. “We have to win there. I think we have a chance. So far we have shown that we can compete very well in this tough group. Nobody expected us to be this close to Spurs and Rennes.”