Tottenam Hotspur tasted defeat in their first public showing of pre-season as they went down to the MLS All-Stars in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Kaka and David Villa both scored in their debuts for the hosts, who suffered from eight player withdrawls in the days and hours leading up to the showcase fixture.
Harry Kane struck back on his first outing of the summer, but his effort was unable to inspire a comeback as the All-Stars’ scatterings of quality proved to be enough to edge their opponents.
The win marks a second win in as many years for the All-Stars following last year’s triumph over Bayern Munich by the same scoreline, and also a second successive win over English opposition following the defeat of Chelsea in 2012.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side will now return to England and prepare for next week’s Audi Cup competition, which starts with a game against Real Madrid on Tuesday.
A typically extravagant build-up to the game was somewhat dampened by injuries to Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Robbie Keane to name a few, and some fans may have been forgiven to think the occasion would become a damp squib after a dull opening.
Kane’s close range effort was as close as either side came in the opening twenty minutes, whilst Christian Eriksen’s flailing body ensured that Eric Dier’s header on goal would not threaten the scoreline either.
The game did eventually offer a level of excitement that the pre-game fireworks had built the 18,671-strong crowd up for though, and despite enjoying the majority of possession in the opening exchanges, it was that Spurs found themselves behind after Nacer Chadli was penalised for a handball in the box.
Kaka stepped up and found Michael Vorm’s bottom right corner with aplomb from the resulting kick, adding a goal to an accolade-filled All-Star game debut for the Brazilian after he was elected as the team’s captain following a fan vote.
Chadli almost made amends for his error two minutes later when he found Kane with a delightful cross, but like for much of the opening half, Nick Rimando was in inspired form as he made a close-range stop against the odds.
It proved to be an important save as the counter-attack that followed led to the host’s second goal – which again came courtesy of a league veteran.
Tony Beltran found himself in an advanced position, and his drilled ball across goal was met by Villa who instinctively found the corner with a first-time finish in trademark fashion.
Kane always looked to be the tourist’s best route back into the game and he looked lively again eleven minutes before the break as he got on the end of Christian Eriksen’s well-timed ball, but Rimando was equal to the England international’s effort once more.
The 22-year-old did finally get the better of the Real Salt Lake City stopper two minutes later however, but it was at fault of USA international Matt Besler whose slip allowed Kane the space and time to bury a shot past Rimando from the edge of the box.
Any momentum that would’ve potentially came from that goal was instantly killed upon the changing of four players at half-time, however, whilst the hosts did their best to disrupt proceedings with eleven changes of their own.
Unsurprisingly, the sheer volume of substitutions meant the second period started as uneventful as the first, and much like the opening half, it wasn’t until halfway through till a threatening chance came about.
Danny Rose – who had came on just two minutes earlier – drilled a teasing ball across the space behind the All-Stars’ defence, but a fatiguing Kane was unable to lunge his body towards it to bring the visitors level.
Eight minutes later, Kane combined with Tom Carroll to find Joshua Onomah on the left, but despite being afforded the time that he would not get in a Premier League match, the 18-year-old could only fire a tame effort at David Ousted.
Further youngsters were introduced by Pochettino, but rather than providing flashes of life within a tiring team, the lack of experience on show proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the Argentinian as the hosts ended the game on top.
The pacey Castillo should’ve beaten young goalkeeper Luke Mcghee after wriggling clear of Kieran Trippier, whilst former Sunderland player Jozy Altidore also squandered a good chance with one of the last touches of the game.
It didn’t matter though as Masteroni added his name to an evergrowing list of All-Star game winning coaches – but that will be of no concern to Pochettino.
The Spurs boss will be encouraged by some of what he saw from his side, and after escaping another friendly injury-free, you can be sure that this year’s All-Star coach will have no problem getting a handshake off his counterpart.
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