Jenas says Lloris made ridiculous decision in first-half of Spurs tie

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Jermaine Jenas has told BT Sport (broadcast on 7/9; 20:32) that Hugo Lloris made a ridiculous decision to punch a harmless cross into the Tottenham box during the first-half of their nervy Champions League tie with Marseille on Wednesday.

Spurs would have been hoping to get off to a strong start. Antonio Conte would have certainly been looking for his side to take a commanding lead ahead of their clash with Manchester City this weekend.

Unfortunately, Marseille did not go quietly in North London. And Tottenham did not help themselves.

There was one bizarre moment just after the half-hour mark where Lloris decided to punch a ball into his box. The Frenchman had no Marseille player around him. And he made a hash of getting the ball to safety. Thankfully, Spurs were not punished for the captain’s mistake.

Nevertheless, Jenas did not hold back in his assessment of Lloris’ decision.

“I don’t know what he’s thinking there. He’s just to catch the ball, let things settle down. This is ridiculous. There’s no problem, no trouble whatsoever, it’s a shocking punch as well,” he told BT Sport.

Lloris made ridiculous decision to punch

It was not what Tottenham needed as the tension started to rise in the game. Spurs have what appears to be a nice group and they should have more than enough quality to breeze through into the knockout stages.

But winning games such as the one at home to Marseille is important. And while Lloris did not cost Spurs in that moment, he would have only given the Ligue 1 side more belief.

Lloris has been playing extremely well of late. So he can certainly be forgiven for one error, particularly when it did not come back to haunt Tottenham.

But it definitely would have left plenty of fans scratching their heads wondering what he was up to.