Tottenham Hotspur Held By Fiorentina

Basanta gives Fiorentina advantage with away goal
Soldado ended 10-match goal drought for Spurs
Kane on bench, plays last 24 minutes
Fiorentina will go through with 0-0 draw at home
Tottenham face a battle to remain in the Europa League after being held to a round of 32 first-leg draw by Fiorentina at White Hart Lane.

Roberto Soldado volleyed in a sixth-minute opener from Paulinho's corner as Spurs dominated the opening half-hour.

But Argentina centre-back Jose Maria Basanta scrambled in an away goal that gives Vincenzo Montella's side the edge ahead of next week's second leg.

Nacer Chadli hit the bar for Spurs, who faded after half-time.

Soldado started instead of 23-goal top scorer Harry Kane as head coach Mauricio Pochettino – facing the first of six matches in 17 days – made six changes in an attempt to keep his squad fresh.

At first, it looked as though his rotation would pay off. Fiorentina's Romanian goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu had just made a good block to keep out Chadli when he was beaten from the resulting corner.

Soldado, who has rarely looked like justifying his £26m transfer fee since arriving from Valencia in August 2013, turned Paulinho's delivery into the corner of the net.

Montella's wing-back system threatened to fall apart at times in the first half, with Manuel Pasqual given a very tough time as Kyle Walker and Andros Townsend attacked down the Tottenham right.

Christian Eriksen lifted over a decent chance after being set up by Chadli, Soldado forced a save out of Tatarusanu with an overhead kick, and Townsend cut in from the right to open up space for a shot that was blocked.

But Montella's side rode that difficult spell and drew level as Basanta – who featured twice for Argentina at last summer's World Cup – bundled in the loose ball from close range after Hugo Lloris had beaten out Matias Fernandez's vicious inswinging free-kick from the left.

Spurs should have regained the lead in the last minute of the first half, but Chadli lifted a shot against the underside of the bar from six yards after Tatarusanu had palmed out Eriksen's flicked header.

Montella attempted to shore up his side by switching to a back four and moving right wing-back Joaquin over to the left to help Pasqual, a switch that succeeded in cutting off the threat of Walker and Townsend.

Former Spain international Joaquin set up on-loan Chelsea forward Mohamed Salah to steer a shot just wide from the edge of the penalty area soon after the interval.

Fiorentina – fourth in Serie A – continued to create occasional openings while frustrating Tottenham.

Pochettino brought on Kane for the final 24 minutes in an attempt to fashion a first-leg advantage, but he was unable to make a significant impact.

Tottenham's best second-half opening came when Eriksen's well-judged flick put Paulinho through, but keeper Tatarusanu timed his advance to make the block.

Fiorentina saw out the game comfortably and, with their away goal, need only a 0-0 draw at the Stadio Artemio Franchi to reach the last 16.

Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino: “I think we deserved more. We created more chances in the first half and dominated the opening 45 minutes.

“I'm happy with the performance but disappointed with the result. We need to go to Florence to try to win the game and progress.”

BBC SPORTS