FROM TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – Tottenham opened their UEFA Europa League marketing campaign with a manic 3-0 win towards Azerbaijani facet Qarabag.
Kick-off in north London was delayed by 35 minutes as a consequence of extreme journey disruption across the metropolis, which meant Qarabag did not arrive till simply earlier than the preliminary slated time of 20:00.
Spurs performed almost the whole match with ten males after an early crimson card, however Ange Postecoglou’s facet have been spectacular regardless.
How the sport unfolded
Inside seven minutes of kick-off, Tottenham discovered themselves a person down. A free contact from Radu Dragusin noticed Juninho pinch the ball and race by means of to aim, just for the Romanian defender to journey him because the final man, and he was despatched off for the foul.
However the hosts broke the impasse quickly after. Dominic Solanke stole the ball off of Julio Ramao, and he performed in Brennan Johnson to fireside previous goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski.
One other likelihood for Johnson got here and went when he raced onto an extended move from Archie Grey and rounded Kochalski, however his effort from a good angle bobbled vast.
Qarabag ought to have been stage simply earlier than the break. Elvin Jafarquliyev scampered to the byline and pulled again a cross into the six-yard field, the place Juninho turned it previous the submit.
Shortly after the interval, Tottenham doubled their lead. A nook from Dejan Kulusevski was flapped at by Kochalski, and Pape Matar Sarr was available on the again submit to transform the free ball.
Minutes later, Qarabag have been awarded a penalty when Yves Bissouma introduced down Jafarquliyev. Nonetheless, Tural Bayramov skied the spot kick.
Nearly instantly down the opposite finish, Son Heung-min teed up Solanke, however he was denied by the toes of Kochalski.
Qarabag have been attacking with extra depth and rattled the submit by means of Juninho after he beat the final line of the Spurs defence.
The guests have been left fairly weak on the again themselves and have been made to pay as Tottenham added a 3rd. Son’s shot from distance was spilled by Kochalski and into the trail of Solanke, who tapped the ball into an empty aim.
Qarabag lastly had the ball within the web after 78 minutes by means of Juninho, however the flag rapidly went up for offside and his pleasure was short-lived.
Tottenham’s triumph was confirmed after three minutes of added time as they prolonged their file to three-straight wins in all competitions.
GK: Guglielmo Vicario – 7/10 – Made some actually spectacular saves to make sure Tottenham remained within the ascendancy and by no means have been dragged right into a lull regardless of the crimson card.
RB: Archie Grey – 7/10 – A wonderful European debut for {the teenager}, who linked up properly with each Johnson and Kulusevski down the precise flank. Significant minutes within the Premier League should not be too far-off.
CB: Radu Dragusin – 1/10 – Is it attainable to offer a minus ranking? The Romanian’s woeful contact and foul ensured his facet needed to play 83 minutes with solely ten gamers. Completely dreadful.
CB: Micky van de Ven – 6/10 – Understandably wasn’t too positive of his footing when switched to the precise facet of defence, however typically made amends along with his otherworldly restoration tempo.
LB: Ben Davies – 6/10 – Was by no means wanting confidence in possession, even when shifted to centre-back and even when he misplaced the ball equally to Dragusin simply earlier than half time.
DM: Yves Bissouma – 4/10 – Had an almighty activity making an attempt to tie a two-man midfield collectively, however too typically he made a rod for his personal again. Lunged in fairly daftly to concede the penalty and was actually fortunate it was blazed over.
CM: Pape Matar Sarr – 8/10 – The engine in midfield was a bit busier than he had in all probability anticipated to be, protecting extra distance after Dragusin’s dismissal and the next tactical change to a two-man midfield. Grabbed his first aim of the season for his efforts.
CM: Lucas Bergvall – 6/10 – Withdrawn quickly after Dragusin’s crimson card in favour of one other defender in Udogie. Understandably annoyed as he made his means off so early into his first house begin and regarded dejected on the bench thereafter.
RW: Brennan Johnson – 8/10 – Took the sport’s first likelihood extraordinarily properly, passing the ball into the underside nook to file his third aim in as many matches. Taken off at half-time.
CF: Dominic Solanke – 9/10 – An all-round efficiency from Tottenham’s new striker. Made one other aim out of his urgent early doorways for Johnson earlier than reacting quickest to a free ball to transform himself within the second half. Put in a hell of a shift off the ball.
LW: Son Heung-min – 6/10 – This wasn’t the cleanest efficiency from Spurs’ captain, although his tempo gave Qarabag severe issues in transition and it was his shot which led to Solanke’s aim.
Substitutes
SUB: Future Udogie (12′ for Bergvall) – 6/10 – Tottenham wanted his vitality to make up for the one-man benefit Qarabag had. His finish product was missing, nevertheless.
SUB: Dejan Kulusevski (46′ for Johnson) – 6/10 – Likewise introduced contemporary legs to a group that required them to plug gaps.
SUB: Timo Werner (70′ for Son) – 6/10
SUB: Rodrigo Bentancur (70′ for Bissouma) – 6/10
SUB: Mikey Moore (85′ for Solanke) – N/A
Subs not used: Fraser Forster (GK), Brandon Austin (GK), Pedro Porro, James Maddison, Will Lankshear
Supervisor
Ange Postecoglou – 8/10 – Tottenham performed beautifully given the circumstances, even when that meant giving up a bit extra space for the opponent to attempt to benefit from.
