Claudio Ranieri’s joy as Hummels strikes late to ruin Tottenham’s night | Europa League

Tottenham had no complaints about losing more points in the Europa League. An entertaining battle went back and forth, neither side seemed to know how to defend, and Roma earned a deserved draw when Mats Hummels made it 2-2 in stoppage time.

For Claudio Ranieri, back in London and out of retirement, it was a joyful moment. He had spent the night bouncing around his technical area and the poor performance of his struggling team was driving him to despair. Roma, whose hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the Europa League remain in doubt, fell behind to a Son Heung-Min penalty and a Brennan Johnson goal. But Spurs couldn’t control the game and Ange Postecoglou’s side still have a lot of work to do.

Given that Spurs beat Manchester City exceptionally well last weekend and were downright stupid in their loss to Ipswich Town in their last home game, it was impossible to know what Spurs would do against an opponent that is 12th in Serie A lies and already has its third coach of the season.

But with Postecoglou making just four changes ahead of Sunday’s visit of Fulham, there were hints of what kind of evening this was about to be. A second-minute attack led by Dejan Kulusevski tore Roma apart and although Glenn Nyberg fended off cries for a penalty when Hummels hit the Spurs midfielder, the referee changed his mind after checking the pitchside monitor.

Shortly afterwards, Son’s penalty failed and Roma turned to Paulo Dybala. The Argentine striker, no longer the next big thing but still extremely dangerous, missed a tempting chance and later tried to throw Fraser Forster from the halfway line. But when Angeliño fired a corner back towards the original taker, Ranieri perhaps wondered why he agreed to a third stint as Roma coach.

Much of the 73-year-old coach’s optimism had to come from Dybala, who threatened again when he evaded Archie Gray and forced Forster to smoke, but Roma also exerted control. Their 3-4-3 system caused problems for Spurs and the equalizer came in the 20th minute when Evan Ndicka rose to fire Dybala’s free-kick into the far corner.

Now Roma, who were denied the lead when Stephan El Shaarawy’s goal was disallowed, experienced some of the magic that Ranieri spread across Leicester in 2016. Dybala was on point, completing a solo dribble before pushing a low shot almost past Forster. Up front, Artem Dovbyk kept Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies busy.

But Spurs responded and Johnson cleared a shot off the line after poor goalkeeping from Mile Svilar. Then came Kulusevski, who ran a long ball down the left side and pulled Hummels out of the middle. Hummels couldn’t stop the Swede and when Johnson delivered the cross, he was there and scored with an impressive finish.

The goal seemed to cloud Roma’s spirit. They should have been further behind at half-time, but Kulusevski hit the woodwork and Son fired the rebound over the goal.

Spurs could only be encouraged by the presumably injured Dybala, who made way for Matías Soulé at half-time. Instead, Roma started the second half well, with Manu Koné dominating the midfield and the linesman twice raising his flag on Dovbyk for offside to prevent the second equalizer. The memories of Son testing Svilar with a curling attempt began to fade.

Roma enjoyed their full-backs pushing higher. Another chance arose when Zeki Celik found space on the right and crossed to Angeliño, whose volley deflected and hit the crossbar.

It was time for Spurs to wake up and they did when an adventurous run from Davies ended with him being brought down on the edge of the penalty area. Porro took the free kick but shot it just over the goal. Dominic Solanke then broke through down the left side, but Leandro Paredes was able to prevent the striker’s cross from reaching Johnson.

The game remained open and Roma had another try when Koné placed a low shot wide of the goal. Their shots had to be better to worry Forster in the 36-year-old goalkeeper’s first appearance as a replacement for Gugliemo Vicario, who faces a long layoff after breaking his ankle.

Frustration grew for Ranieri, who felt Rodrigo Bentancur should have seen more than a yellow card for hitting Roma substitute Alexis Saelemaekers. Solanke headed against a post but Spurs still needed Forster to deny Dovbyk after some terrible defending from Porro.

It appeared Spurs had done enough when Forster made a stunning stop following a volley from Gianluca Mancini. But as the game entered stoppage time, Roma pressed again and Hummels arrived at the far post to convert Angeliño’s cross.