Tottenham Hotspur played out a fractious 1-1 draw against Getafe in a 70-minute pre-season friendly at the club's training centre in Enfield on Saturday.
The match was played behind closed doors in stifling heat with two weeks remaining before the Premier League season begins. Spurs responded quickly after falling behind, gaining valuable minutes on the pitch despite showing familiar issues in attack.
Getafe took the lead when Lucas Bergvall lost track of Alberto Risco in midfield alongside Sandro Tonali. Centre-half Jan Paul van Hecke stepped out of the back four to try and avert the danger, but Risco was too quick for him, played a quick one-two, and beat goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky with a crisp finish.
Conor Gallagher scored the equaliser for Tottenham by driving forward onto a loose ball that spilled out of a challenge on Richarlison. Gallagher took a touch and applied a firm low finish past Getafe goalkeeper David Soria.
Match details and Gallagher equalizer
Gallagher joined Spurs for £35 million from Atletico Madrid in January and started to show glimpses of form towards the end of last season. The midfielder should benefit further when Italian boss Roberto De Zerbi imposes his high-intensity style.
Against Getafe, Tottenham did not control possession as De Zerbi would want. Tonali, the club's £100 million midfielder, showed flashes of quality but was also easily distracted by a niggling late challenge.
Attacking struggles and transfer targets
The result reinforced De Zerbi's concerns regarding Tottenham's lack of firepower ahead of the transfer deadline. While Spurs backed De Zerbi's desire to strengthen midfield and bring experience into the back four, he wants more options up front, with the club interested in Savinho and Cody Gakpo among others.
Richarlison led the front line flanked by Mathys Tel and Mikey Moore. The Brazilian was Spurs' top scorer in the Premier League last season with 11 goals, but he issued a reminder that he lacks the instinct of a clinical predator against Getafe. Soria saved two second-half aerial chances from Richarlison, who also headed wide in the first half. Ben Davies headed Tottenham's best chance of the first half straight at Soria from an Andy Robertson free kick.
Player performances and squad management
Mikey Moore, who turns 19 on Tuesday, was deployed on the right wing but was unable to impose his talent on the game ahead of a proposed season-long loan move to Cologne. Moore returned with a decent end-of-term report from a season at Rangers, but low crosses from Tel fizzed past him at the back post and he could not find the target with a looping header in the second half.
Tel offered little in the first half on the left but was more effective in the second, showing hints of developing an understanding with Robertson, who adds the balance of a natural left footer often missing last season.
Van Hecke, a £54 million centre-half, got on the ball and sought to spark attacking patterns from the back with early passes forward through the lines, although the Getafe goal came through his channel.
Team lineup and absent players
De Zerbi made no changes through the 70 minutes played, with barely a break at half time. Tottenham lined up with Kinsky in goal behind Gray, Van Hecke, Davies, and Robertson. Tonali and Bergvall sat in midfield behind Moore, Gallagher, and Tel, with Richarlison leading the line.
Six young substitutes, Takai, Donley, Scarlett, Yang, Hardy, and Byrne, were named alongside goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, but none were used as De Zerbi reclined on the touchline. He will file the game away as another valuable training exercise.
Several senior players were not involved against Getafe because they were involved in another training game on Saturday. Martin Dubravka, Kevin Danso, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr, Mateus Fernandes, James Maddison, and Dominic Solanke remain firmly back in the swing of pre-season.
Xavi Simons hosts bereaved family
Off the pitch, Xavi Simons hosted the family of George Dennis, an 11-year-old Spurs fan killed by a lorry in Chipping Ongar in Essex in July, for the friendly match on Saturday. Simons, who is out with a long-term knee injury, made the offer via social media after reading about the tragedy.
The Netherlands international gave the family, including George's elder brother and his cousin who witnessed the crash, a tour of the training ground. Simons presented the children with Spurs shirts and boots and the parents with flowers before they all watched the 1-1 draw played behind closed doors.
