Anderlecht vs Tottenham Hotspur match report: Mauricio Pochettino fury after Spurs fold tamely to throw away lead

Anderlecht 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1: Manager slams his players as they fail to capitalise on Christian Eriksen's early opener

Stefano Okaka celebrates scoring Anderlecht’s winner (Reuters)

Mauricio Pochettino aimed fierce criticism at his Spurs players after they surrendered an early lead against Anderlecht for a first defeat in their Europa League campaign.

“I am angry, frustrated, disappointed. We need to realise we need to compete every game, in every single minute, in different games and competitions,” the manager said.

“When you are the better team after 10 minutes and you believe you can win the game, you need to win the game. Your focus needs to be 200 per cent. But when you lose your focus it’s difficult to come back. It’s difficult to manage and say, ‘OK, 1-0, now I don’t put the effort in’.”

Claiming his only centre-forward had a knock, Pochettino left Harry Kane out of his starting line-up for this Group J fixture. At first, it looked a smart move. Christian Eriksen scored in the fourth minute as the visitors dominated.

But Guillaume Gillet equalised in the 13th minute and Anderlecht grew in confidence – and when Stefano Okaka scored the winning goal 15 minutes from full-time it was no surprise.

It leaves Spurs with four points from their first three games and means Pochettino can ill afford to rest players in the matches that remain – a potential blow to their Premier League ambitions.

Tottenham had the perfect start when Steven Defour gave the ball away to Eriksen, who swapped passes with Erik Lamela before collecting a lucky rebound off Serigne Mbodji and firing past Silvio Proto.

In the 10th minute Eric Dier fed Eriksen and the Spurs playmaker found Lamela. One-on-one with Proto and eight yards out, he could only steer his shot into the body of the Anderlecht goalkeeper.

Then the Belgians punished Spurs. Defour’s right-wing corner was not cleared and Gillet drilled a strong volley beyond Hugo Lloris.

Although Spurs had nearly 70 per cent of the possession in the first half, there was little penetration after Anderlecht’s goal. Kane replaced Clinton NJie after an hour but his struggles in front of goal continued, as he was denied by Proto when clean through.

Again, Spurs were punished quickly as Frank Acheampong crossed low for Okaka, who held off Jan Vertonghen to score from close range.

A group of about 40 Spurs fans were attacked in a Brussels bar before the match.

Man of the match Dendoncker (Anderlecht).

Match rating 8/10.

Referee P van Boekel (Netherlands).