Spurs 'disgusted' by online abuse aimed at defender Sanchez

Tottenham Hotspur said they were disgusted by online racist abuse received by their Colombia defender Davinson Sanchez after the 2-2 Premier League draw at Newcastle United on Sunday.

"We are disgusted by the racist messages received by Davinson Sanchez today and are calling on social media platforms to take action," the London club said on Twitter.

"We stand with you, @daosanchez26 and all those continuing to suffer abuse online."

Sanchez shared a screenshot of an Instagram account which posted a string of monkey emojis on his page.

He is the latest in a long list of players targeted by online abuse including Manchester United trio Anthony Martial, Axel Tuanzebe and Marcus Rashford plus Chelsea's Reece James.

Meanwhile, Spurs manager Jose Mourinho said they were the architects of their own downfall after failing to hold on to the lead in the 2-2 draw.

Spurs led 2-1 at the break thanks to a quick-fire double from Harry Kane but an 85th-minute equaliser from Joe Willock prevented Mourinho's side from provisionally moving up to fourth in the table.

Spurs have now dropped 11 points this season due to goals conceded in the final 10 minutes.

"The Premier League is hard and is high-level football. And when in some actions you don't show that you belong to that high level of football, it's difficult," Mourinho told the BBC.

"We made ... defensive mistakes that lead to instability. In the first half we were always in control, even in the second half when we had the ball we didn't have any problems. We could have scored a couple more.

"Instability brings hope to our opponent and our opponent didn't give up. I had the same feeling and I'm on the bench. It's difficult to have the feeling of absolute control because I know that what happened can happen."

When Mourinho was reminded that his teams were famous for holding on to leads in the past, he said: "Same coach, different players."

The Portuguese manager was also concerned with how Spurs were unable to handle Newcastle's constant pressure after scoring twice.

"You cannot score three, four, five goals every match. You come away from home and score two goals... we cannot ask for lots of goals every match, many times it's not possible," Mourinho added.

"It's not just about the defensive mistakes that lead to goals, we have situations where we have the ball and I know already the ball is going to end with (goalkeeper) Hugo Lloris.

"That's the way we sometimes create instability to ourselves. We gave the chance to the opponents to push up."

Mourinho said he was without defenders Toby Alderweireld and Serge Aurier because they did not return from international duty in time for Covid-19 tests.

Mourinho said Belgian Alderweireld and Ivory Coast's Aurier only returned to the club's training ground on Saturday, while the rest of the squad had been tested in midweek.

"They went for their national teams and they didn't make the Covid tests on time to be in the training session on Thursday, not even on Friday. They come only yesterday (Saturday)," Mourinho told reporters.

"The players that landed in London on Wednesday after internationals and the ones that played in London, like in the case of the English boys, they had the test and could be in training on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

"I don't want to say indiscipline. I don't want to say this. It is what it is."

- Reuters