Tottenham stunned by fourth-tier club

Tottenham Hotspur’s disappointing start to the season hit a new low as they suffered an embarrassing League Cup third-round defeat on penalties at fourth-tier Colchester on Tuesday. Mauricio Pochettino’s side were held to a 0-0 draw in normal time before losing 4-3 on penalties against opponents currently 10th in League Two.

Christian Eriksen’s opening spot-kick was saved and Lucas Moura hit the crossbar before Tom Lapslie scored the winning penalty to spark a pitch invasion from Colchester’s jubilant fans. It was the first time Spurs manager Pochettino had been knocked out of a domestic cup competition against lower-league opposition. The shock defeat extended Tottenham’s poor run, which included a 2-1 loss at Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday. “Colchester made a fantastic game, it was difficult. We are so disappointed we could not score in 90 minutes,” Pochettino said.

“That’s the beauty of the competition, always something can happen. We wanted to go further but we are out.” After finishing as Champions League runners-up last season, Tottenham were expected to kick on this season but instead they have struggled to find any consistency. Pochettino has grumbled about the distractions of the transfer window, with Eriksen and several other players linked with moves that never materialised.

As a result, Tottenham have looked a disjointed team, with two-goal leads squandered in draws at Arsenal and Olympiakos. The upset was the biggest setback so far for Pochettino, who made 10 changes to his side but could still call on enough quality players to expect a win against a team 71 places below them in the football pyramid. There were debuts for 17-yearold Troy Parrott and 20-yearold Japhet Tanganga, while Eric Dier made his first appearance of the season alongside Dele Alli in midfield.