After the thrilling raid on Manchester City, the prospect of a home fixture against dysfunctional Roma came with laced with peril for those with Tottenham in their blood.
The Italians have been in disarray this season, summoning Claudio Ranieri from retirement at 73 to salvage their season and the presence of the man who orchestrated Leicester City’s miracle of 2016 triggered awkward flashbacks.
Spurs chased Leicester all the way in that campaign and somehow finished up in third and here was Ranieri back to foil them again.
Ange Postecoglou’s side were without number one goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario for the first time since he broke an ankle in the 4-0 win at City, but Fraser Forster deputised ably.
He produced a brilliant save to deny Gianluca Mancini in stoppage time only for Mats Hummels to level from the corner which followed.
Tottenham had been blessed by VAR, helping them into an early lead from a penalty scored by Heung-min Son and then ruling out three Roma goals.
Mats Hummels scored in injury time to rescue a point for Roma, having given away the penalty which led to Tottenham’s opener
Tottenham failed to make the result safe and have fallen out of the automatic qualification places
Claudio Ranieri returned to his boyhood club earlier this month and saw a spirited performance from his side
The Italians struck the bar as they pushed for an equaliser in the second half.
Tottenham hit the woodwork three times in all but must have thought Brennan Johnson’s ninth of the season had won it.
The night had started poorly for Hummels, the 35-year-old central defender who was released by Borussia Dortmund at the end of last season and picked up by Roma on a free in September.
Hummels scored an own goal on his debut, a 5-1 defeat at Fiorentina and did not play again under Ivan Juric, who was sacked in November after only a dozen games in charge. On this, his first start for his new club, Hummels conceded a penalty inside two minutes.
He seemed off the pace arriving a fraction late into a challenge on Pape Matar Sarr who needed little encouragement to tumble over. Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg waved the appeals away at first, only to be referred to his monitor by the VAR.
Son converted once the decision had eventually been confirmed, only his fourth Spurs goal of the season. It ought to have settled them down and yet did not. The game rebounded from one end of the pitch to the other with little discernible order.
Fraser Forster, making only his fifth appearance in 18 months, reacted well when needed for the first time, saving low at his near post from Paulo Dybala but was soon beaten. Evan N’Dicka glanced in a header off the bar from a from a free-kick.
It may have been a different goalkeeper but Tottenham were no more secure defending the high ball at set-pieces.
Heung-min Son opened the scoring for the home side from the spot after only five minutes
Roma defender Evan Ndicka got his side back on level terms in the 20th minute of the clash
Brennan Johnson’s well-taken finish looked to have handed Spurs the win that would have taken them to within two points of the Europa League group stage summit
The Italians thought they had the lead when Stephan El Shaarawy connected sweetly with a flick by Dybala and fizzed a volley into the net from just inside the penalty area. The ball was on the centre spot with both teams lined up to restart by the time the VAR check came through and the goal was ruled out for offside.
Angelino made a vital block on his own line to deny Johnson before the Spurs winger found the net in typical style, arriving at pace to rattle in his ninth goal of the season, a crisp finish to a low cross from Dejan Kulusevski.
Postecoglou’s team established a little more control before half time and might easily have scored a third before the interval. Kulusevski hit a post and Son crashed the rebound over. Then Roma keeper Mile Svilar made a good save to deny Son.
They broke four on two early in the second half without making int count. Hummels recovered to make a sliding challenge as Kulusevski took aim.
Roma, who lost Dybala at half-time, were stronger in the second half, when they had two more goals disallowed for offside in quick succession.
First Artem Dovbyk strayed a yard offside before his cross was tapped in by Manu Kone. Then a flag went up as Dovbyk applied the finish to a low cross from the right. This one was tighter but the technology backed the assistant referee.
Pedro Porro deflected an effort by Angelino against the bar. Kone slid a good chance wide form the edge of the penalty box and, in between, Porro clipped the bar from a free-kick with goalkeeper Svilar well beaten.
Solanke became the third Spurs player to hit the frame of the goal, heading against bar at the near post.
