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Tottenham 3-0 Qarabag: Spurs triumph despite early red card

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London produced another episode of its notorious travel chaos on the streets outside and Ange Postecoglou served up his own brand of mayhem on the pitch inside as Tottenham started their European adventure in thrilling style.

There was a late start and an early setback, but neither could stop Spurs as they scored three against Qarabag of Azerbaijan despite playing most of the game with 10 men.

Radu Dragusin was dismissed in the seventh minute for denying a goalscoring opportunity, but Postecoglou never really considered sitting back and playing with caution.

Instead, he shored up his back four and left three up front and his team continued to pour forward.

Brennan Johnson gave them the lead with his third goal in nine days and Pape Matar Sarr grabbed the second, soon after the interval before Dominic Solanke completed the scoring.

Tottenham eased to a comfortable victory over Qarabag, with Dominic Solanke among the scorers

Defender Radun Dragusin was sent off after seven minutes with the score still at 0-0

Defender Radun Dragusin was sent off after seven minutes with the score still at 0-0

Brennan Johnson, however, got the ball rolling with his third goal in as many games for Spurs

Brennan Johnson, however, got the ball rolling with his third goal in as many games for Spurs

But there were plenty of scares at the other end. Qarabag missed a penalty and hit a post when it was 2-0 and forced late saves from Guglielmo Vicario but Postecoglou’s team deserved their winning start in the Europa League.

MATCH FACTS AND PLAYER RATINGS

Tottenham (4-3-3): Vicario 7; Gray 7.5, Dragusin, Van de Ven 7, Davies 6; Sarr 7, Bissouma 6.5 (Bentancur 70, 6), Bergvall (Udogie 12, 6.5); Johnson 7 (Kulusevski 46, 7), Solanke 8, Son 7 (Werner 70, 6)

Subs: Forster, Austin, Maddison, Werner, Porro, Bentancur, Lankshear, Moore

Goals: Johnson 12, Sarr 52, Solanke 68

Booked: Bissouma

Sent off: Dragusin 7

Manager: Ange Postecoglou 7.5

Qarabag (4-2-3-1): Kochalski 5; Silva 5, Mustafazade 5, Huseynov 6, Jafarguliyev 6.5; Romao 5 (Leandro 68, 6), Andrade 6; Bayramov 5 (Addai 67, 5), Benzia 6, Zoubir 6; Juninho 6.5

Subs: Mammadzada, Buntic, Jankovic, Almeida, Kashchuk, Gurbanli, Isaev, A.Huseynov, Akhundzade

Booked: Jafarguliyev

Manager: Gurban Gurbanov 6

Ref: Willy Delajod (FRA) 6.5

Attendance: 51,757

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Tottenham have won three in a row since the North London derby defeat against Arsenal and go to Manchester United on Sunday with momentum building and strikers scoring.

Gridlock on the streets of north London created a mood of pre-match chaos. Qarabag were caught up in traffic and did not make it to the stadium until 15 minutes before the scheduled kick-off at 8pm. 

The Azeri champions had stayed in a hotel 12 miles away in Stratford, but rail and road closures combined to wreak havoc on all those bound for N17, including thousands of supporters.

TNT Sport pundits Peter Crouch and Glenn Hoddle had to jump out of their vehicle and set out into the pouring rain on foot. ‘We gave up with the car,’ said Crouch. ‘We were head down and legging it through.’ Hoddle added: ‘Peter ran, and I limped.’

Qarabag are not the first to be caught out by the notoriously congested streets around Tottenham, whose previous European home fixture was delayed by 10 minutes when both teams arrived late due to bad traffic.

That was against AC Milan in the second leg of a last 16 Champions League tie in March 2023, when Antonio Conte’s Spurs team were unable to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg and crashed out.

The Qarabag team bus finally arrived with the help of a police escort along the last mile of the journey. Long-serving head coach Gurban Gurbanov appeared distinctly unimpressed as he disembarked but agreed to prepare as quickly as possible and aim for a kick off at 8.35pm.

In fact, it was two minutes later by the time they got under way and the visitors started brightly as if thrilled to be moving freely once again. Spurs were caught out by their pace and reduced to 10 men within only seven minutes.

Dragusin’s touch was poor as he collected a pass from Micky van de Ven and Juninho pounced with terrific speed off the mark, touching the ball clear and set off in pursuit.

Tottenham needed to rely on Guglielmo Vicario on more than one occasion to preserve their clean sheet

Tottenham needed to rely on Guglielmo Vicario on more than one occasion to preserve their clean sheet

Dragusin's red card came after a poor touch and Juninho pounced, only to be bundled over

Dragusin’s red card came after a poor touch and Juninho pounced, only to be bundled over

Later in the game, Tural Bayramov stepped up to take a penalty but blazed it over the bar

Later in the game, Tural Bayramov stepped up to take a penalty but blazed it over the bar

He seemed set to accelerate away towards goal when he became entangled with Dragusin’s desperate efforts to recover and was taken down. French referee Willy Delajod produced a red card without hesitation.

The Romanian trudged off and Postecoglou reshuffled. Off came Lucas Bergvall, the teenage midfielder replaced by left back Destiny Udogie, with Ben Davies moving into the centre alongside Van de Ven.

Postecoglou had made six changes to the team that started the Premier League win against Brentford on Saturday but selected his strongest forward line and it was to his credit that he kept all three of them on after the red card.

Reward for his risk came quickly when Solanke and Pape Matar Sarr forced an error from Julio Romao and Johnson produced a clinical finish, first time from Solanke’s pass.

Johnson missed a chance to extend the lead before he was replaced at half time. The Wales winger won a race to a pass from Archie Gray and nudged it past Qarabag goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski on the corner of the penalty area.

It was a not simple, it required an instant shot from a difficult position with defenders scrambling back to cover and Johnson rolled his shot wide.

Qarabag, seasoned European campaigners who gave eventual runners-up Bayer Leverkusen a serious scare in the last-16 last season, were susceptible at the back to Tottenham’s pressing but always dangerous on the break especially once they had the numerical edge.

They finished the first half on top without making their chances count. Brazilian striker Juninho wriggled away from Davies only to slide the best of them wide when he ought to have scored.

Pape Matar Sarr (right) scored Spurs' second, side-footing a volley in at the back post after a corner

Pape Matar Sarr (right) scored Spurs’ second, side-footing a volley in at the back post after a corner

Ange Postecoglou's side are favourites to win the competition are are now up and running

Ange Postecoglou’s side are favourites to win the competition are are now up and running

Sarr scored Tottenham’s second, a side-foot volley at the back post after keeper Kochalski flapped at a corner. It should have brought a degree of composure to the game but still it hurtled on a full speed.

Qarabag continued to miss chances, including a penalty, awarded for a dubious foul by Yves Bissouma on raiding left back Elvin Jafarguliyev. Tural Bayramov stepped up and fired it over, clipping the bar on the way.

Juninho hit a post too, before Solanke made it 3-0 firing in the rebound when Kochalski failed to hold a shot by Heung-min Son. Still, Qarabag refused to yield.

Jafarguliyev forced a flying save from Vicario and Juninho had a header ruled out for offside in the closing minutes but Spurs were out of the jam by then.


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