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Spurs held by Besiktas

Cape Town - Demba Ba scored a late penalty as Tottenham Hotspur were held to a draw at home to Europa League Group C rivals Besiktas.

Harry Kane's first-half strike appeared to have given Spurs their first win in the group stages but after a catastrophic error from Vlad Chiriches, former Chelsea striker Ba converted from the penalty spot to earn Besiktas a deserved point.

Mauricio Pochettino made 10 changes to the Spurs team which started the 1-1 north London derby draw with Arsenal, partnering Kane with Roberto Soldado up front.

Besiktas made the brighter start at White Hart Lane and could have taken the lead within two minutes when Olcay Sahan fired wide from 18 yards after a neat dummy from Ba.

Ba went close himself shortly after, rattling a powerful shot off the crossbar with Spurs looking sluggish.

Pochettino's men grew into the first half and scored with their first shot of the game after 27 minutes.

Nabil Bentaleb's smart turn created an opening and Kane buried a 25-yard strike in the bottom corner with his weaker left foot, the England Under-21 striker's fourth goal of the season.

Spurs always seemed to be riding their luck with a one-goal advantage and captain Hugo Lloris came to their rescue on numerous occasions.

Shortly after Kane's goal the French goalkeeper pulled off a superb save to deny Sahan with his legs and was on hand to deny the Besiktas number 10 again in the second half.

Sahan, who was a threat all night, had Lloris well beaten with an acrobatic scissor kick later in the game but his effort flashed wide of the far post.

Spurs' best chance to double their lead fell to Kane but his effort was thwarted by Tolga Zengin following good work from Ben Davies.

Ba forced another stunning reaction save out of Lloris in the closing stages with Spurs hanging on for all three points but their efforts came undone with two minutes of normal time remaining.

Chiriches was penalised for handball inside his own penalty area after his woeful clearance allowed Mustafa Pektemek through on goal and Ba confidently placed the spot-kick in the bottom corner.

The result means Pochettino's side are without a win in the Europa League group stages following their goalless draw with Partizan Belgrade last month, leaving Greek outfit Asteras Tripoli, Spurs' next opponents, top after two games.
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