Lucas Bergvall scored a horror own goal during Tottenham’s Europa League last-16 clash away to AZ Alkmaar. Spurs travelled to the Netherlands with hopes of a first-leg lead, but fell behind early doors because of the Bergvall blunder.
It came while Bergvall was attempting to clear a corner, with the 19-year-old swinging a left boot at the ball. Much to the frustration of the Swede, the ball travelled in the opposite direction, rocketing into the top-right corner of Guglielmo Vicario’s goal.
Djed Spence came close to clearing the ball on the line, but Bergvall was left with his head in his hands after breaking the deadlock with an own goal. It remained the only goal of the first half, with Spurs trailing at the half-time break after failing to register a shot on target in the opening 45 minutes.
Reacting to the goal on social media, @TomDEX88 replied: “Bergvall trying to copy that Tigres women’s Puskas contender,” a reference to Lizbeth Ovalle’s recent viral strike for Tigres Femenil.
@1ndy_B joined in the discussion, adding: “That’s a lovely finish tbf [two laughing emojis].”
While @SportsWashed49 said: “As far as OGs [own goals] go, that was pretty decent to be fair [ok emoji].”
@Buntingfootball stated: “Lucas Bergvall gets that all wrong, gets under the ball and slices it into his own net. If there is a goal that sums up Tottenham Hotspur at the moment it’s that goal, 1-0 AZ Alkmaar absolutely no pressure from that corner and Bergvall just panics and slices his clearance.”
Despite the setback, some fans were pleased with how he reacted to the own goal. @LiamA2030 posted on X: “Really unfortunate for Bergvall scoring the own goal.. I’ve liked how he responded since saved us from conceeding a second goal. We have to be more energetic in the midfield and attack imo. Sarr on for Bentancur. Solanke on for Son. Odobert maybe for Johnson. Have to do better.”
It was the low point in a disappointing first half for Spurs. Speaking to TNT Sports, Les Ferdinand said at half-time: “At the start of the programme, we said they haven’t played for eight days and it looks like they haven’t played for eight days. Sometimes you can be just off it and that’s exactly what Spurs are like at the moment and AZ are taking advantage of that.”
On the unfortunate own goal, Owen Hargreaves added: “I feel sorry for him, he just shanks it into his own goal. That [goal] was coming, puts it back into a dangerous area, just makes a bit of a mess of it.”
Bergvall has endured a mixed first season in England. In Spurs’ recent League Cup semi-final defeat to Liverpool, Bergvall netted the winner in the first leg but could’ve been sent off for a clumsy tackle just before scoring the goal.
Ange Postecoglou has previously commented on Bergvall’s experience, telling the official club website: “The same with Lucas, giving him an understanding of the levels here. It is not easy when you are playing away in Europe. You can only allow them to learn that by exposing them to it.”
