Iago Falque draws Tottenham level in Pochettino’s debut against MLS side

Tottenham Hotspur needed the 82nd-minute penalty conversion by Falque to eke out a 3-3 draw with the Seattle Sounders on Saturday in Mauricio Pochettino's first match in charge of Spurs.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino addresses media after his side's 3-3 draw with MLS side Seattle Sounders on Saturday. Stephen Brashear / AP / July 19, 2014

Spanish winger Iago Falque netted the equaliser on a penalty kick in the 82nd minute to give Tottenham Hotspur a 3-3 draw with Clint Dempsey’s Seattle Sounders of the MLS on Saturday.

The international football friendly marked the debut of Argentina’s Mauricio Pochettino as manager of Spurs after leaving Southampton in May.

“I want to congratulate our players because the conditions to play were very difficult – 1pm and warm and a different field,” Pochettino said. “And we play a very good team.”

It took two second-half penalty kicks to keep the English Premier League side level with their Major League Soccer rivals.

Seconds after entering the match, Seattle’s Tristan Bowen put the Sounders ahead 3-2.

Sean Okoli took the ball down the left sideline and fired a left-footed centering pass into the area that Bowen tapped in to finish and give the hosts the lead in the 78th minute.

But Seattle’s DeAndre Yedlin was whistled for a handball in the penalty area and that set the stage for Falque’s penalty kick in the 82nd minute that pulled Spurs level at 3-3.

Sounders goalkeeper Josh Ford guessed right on the kick but could only get his fingertips on the ball.

Seattle had a final chance in the last seconds of stoppage time but Djimi Traore’s volley sailed just over the Spurs crossbar.

Spurs opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Andros Townsend lofted a pass to the head of Lewis Holtby and the onrushing midfielder nodded the ball past Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei.

Tottenham’s Michael Dawson pushed down Seattle’s Chad Marshall in the penalty area to set up a 33rd minute penalty kick that Gonzalo Pineda chipped into the back of the net to equalise.

Seattle seized the lead four minutes into the second half when Osvaldo Alonso blasted a 30-metre shot past American Spurs goalkeeper Brad Friedel just off the bottom of the crossbar to give the Sounders the lead.

Tottenham answered quickly, with Marshall fouling Roberto Soldado in the penalty area and burying his opportunity from the spot in the 55th minute to pull Spurs level at 2-2.

The match, played before 55,349, was easily Seattle’s most even friendly against Premier League opposition. Seattle lost 2-0 and 4-2 to Chelsea in 2009 and 2012 and were routed 7-0 by Manchester United in 2011.

“When we come on these tours we sometimes don’t know what to expect,” Friedel said. “One thing was for certain when we knew we were going to expect a good atmosphere and playing against the best team in the MLS right now.”

Tottenham played without goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, midfielders Paulinho, Mousa Dembele and Nacer Chadli, and defender Jan Vertonghen, who have been given a break after the World Cup. Gylfi Sigurdsson was dropped from the starting lineup shortly before kickoff.

“We’ve been working extremely hard. Preseason has been very demanding under the new boss and I think that showed,” Friedel said.

Tottenham will continue the North American tour on Thursday against one of MLS’ three Canadian clubs, Toronto FC. Their third and final match will come against the Chicago Fire on July 27.

Spurs open up their Premier League campaign on August 16 against West Ham United.

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