Match Report: Fiorentina Hold Spurs As Montella's Changes Swings Tie in Viola's Favour

Thursday's Europa League tie at White Hart Lane was tipped as a battle between two in-form strikers. Man of the moment Harry Kane had scored 5 goals in 3 competitive appearances coming into the European meeting between Tottenham and Fiorentina, while opposite number Mario Gomez had 5 from 4 matches to his name. However, with one eye on Sunday's league meeting with rivals West Ham, Spurs opted to start Roberto Soldado in place of Kane.

Any respite the Viola were given in Kane's absence, however, lasted just 6 minutes as Soldado fired Spurs in front with a rasping volley from inside the 18-yard box. The Spaniard was picked out by Paulinho from a corner and found the back of the net with a finish reminiscent of his Valencia days. Soldado was given the opportunity to stake a claim for a regular starting spot by head coach Mauricio Pochettino and his early goal suggests he is prepared to fight for his place in the team rather than roll over and accept Kane as Spurs' number one striker, highlighted in his WhoScored rating (7.84)

The hosts continued to press for a second, but bar a few half chances from the likes of Christian Eriksen and Nabil Bentaleb, failed to turn their first half dominance into goals. Spurs' inability to double their advantage cost them with 10 minutes of the half remaining. Soldado clumsily conceded a free-kick to the left of the Spurs penalty area, receiving a yellow for his troubles, which Fiorentina capitalised on. Mati Fernández whipped a cross towards the near post. Hugo Lloris punched the ball from danger, but the ball fell kindly to the feet of José Basanta, who tucked away from close range.

Spurs thought they had regained the one-goal advantage a minute before the interval. Soldado's header was impressively turned away by Ciprian Tatarusanu, but only as far as Nacer Chadli. Unfortunately for the hosts, Chadli was unable to convert from close range, with his effort rebounding off the crossbar and into the welcome hands of the Fiorentina goalkeeper.

Vincenzo Montella's side started the second half brightly and came close to taking the initiative moments after the restart. January loan arrival Mohamed Salah cut onto his left from 20-yards and curled an effort just inches wide of Lloris' post. Spurs' first real effort on goal after the restart came on the hour mark as Bentaleb volleyed over from 30-yards as the Premier League side struggled to forge any clear cut goalscoring opportunities after half time.

Part of this was down to Montella's change in system at the interval. The away side started the game in a 3-1-4-2 formation, but moved to a 4-3-3 for the second half, presumably to limit the impact of Andros Townsend. Townsend enjoyed plenty of success down the right side in the opening 45 minutes, with a majority of Spurs' attacks coming down this flank. Manuel Pasquel struggled to cope with the speed and trickery of the England international in the opening 45 minutes, with Townsend finding plenty of space to run into behind the Italian. Therefore, it was no real surprise to see his evening cut short with 65 minutes on the clock as Montella introduced Marcos Alonso in his captain's place. At the same time, Pochettino threw Kane into the mix for Chadli, with Eriksen moving to the left and the England hopeful in behind Soldado. Kane's introduction failed to have the desired effect, though, as Fiorentina held out for a 1-1 draw and take a crucial away goal back to the Stadio Artemio Franchi next week. 

Pochettino is now faced with an mountainous task if he hopes to guide his side into the next round of the Europa League. Spurs face Chelsea in the Capital One Cup final three days after the second leg in Italy next week and it's the Argentine's tactical inflexibility that will make progression to the last-16 of Europe's second competition difficult. Montella recognised his team were being overrun by Spurs, and in particular Townsend, as the first half wore on and it was no real surprise to see him alter from a 3-man to a 4-man defence at half time. "When we changed to a 4-man defence, we were better," the Viola boss admitted in his post-match press conference.

However, Pochettino opted against altering his tactics, despite the change from the away side, with the Spurs boss remaining loyal to his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation over the 90 minutes. Credit where it's due, Fiorentina managed to ride out the early storm as Spurs raced into an early lead and could easily have been three goals to the good by the time Basanta netted for the away side. "We were better than Fiorentina, especially in the first half," Pochettino said after the final whistle.

Spurs failed to adjust to the away side's change in tack and struggled to forge clear cut goalscoring chances to break the deadlock as the game wore on. Pochettino pointed out that his side lacked the creativity needed to move back in front in the last 15 minutes, emphasised in that Spurs only mustered 2 shots (of 17) in the last quarter of an hour. While he was quick to brush aside suggestions that his players were tired, the lack of cutting edge could come back to haunt the north London outfit in Florence.

Fiorentina will come away from White Hart Lane as the happier of the two teams on Thursday night. Spurs had a number of opportunities to take an advantage to Italy next Thursday, but failed to take their chances and it will be tough for the Premier League outfit to secrue the result needed to qualify for the next round of the Europa League. The Viola, though, extended their unbeaten European record away from home to 9 games at White Hart Lane and the stalemate means they have the upper hand in the return leg.

Do you think Spurs or Fiorentina will progress to the next round of the Europa League? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below