S Poddar
It was a night of unexpected tests as Tottenham Hotspur came back victorious after being subjected to an early shock when a player was red-carded. They capitalized on their resilience and attacking prowess as the night witnessed immense excitement, which paved the way for Tottenham Hotspur’s arrival in the Europa League campaign, after transportation chaos engulfed their stadium.
To say the least, it was evident from the onset that this was going to be anything but a straightforward match. The visitors were reduced to ten men seven minutes into the game after center-back Radu Dragusin was sent off following an ill-timed challenge on Qarabag’s Juninho as well as for a crucial mistake that granted the striker enough freedom to make an easy run past him. This could have been a first blip on the Spurs’ radar, but, as ever, they responded with much tenacity, nearly all thanks to goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario’s heroics that prevented Qarabag from really opening up.
Tottenham finally got reward for their attack in the 68th minute when Dominic Solanke hit the ball into the net in a fairly convincing win that ended 3-0. The goals were through Brennan Johnson, who opened up scoring first, and Pape Sarr, who followed suit, making sure that the home crowd had more than enough to cheer about. This turned out to be the confidence booster Spurs sought, but it was actually a very good start toward their European fairy tale.
It did not look any better for Qarabag who arrived late at the stadium because of chaotic traffic in Baku. Manager Gurban Gurbanov said the team was left jammed in the traffic for more than two and a half hours after being left without police escort. Time was running out when they eventually reached the stadium to prepare for the game. “Imagine you are caught in traffic for more than two and a half hours,” Gurbanov lamented, pinpointing how this scenario affected their game.
However, Tottenham never conceded. Ange Postecoglou reshuffled his defense by throwing Destiny Udogie in at left-back and changed the formation. Spurs actually played for more time with ten men than any of us would care to expect. They maintained their attacking shape and did nothing to suggest they might retreat into a defensive shell while continuing to press high and maintain the attack.
That breakthrough came almost immediately after Udogie was brought on in place of Lucas Bergvall. And that came down to a Qarabag defensive midfielder, Júlio Romão, being caught flat-footed as Spurs went right at him with a high-intensity press, which saw Solanke tee up Johnson to open the account. His first-time finish was quite precise and had impact as he gave Spurs an essential lead.
However, Tottenham’s eager attacking was far from a game plan without risk. Often, they presented themselves as easy prey for Qarabag counters, which brought enough anxious moments. Such was the indication from a near miss by Juninho, who wasted a good chance in front of the goal, that the Azerbaijani champions had failed to finish. Their finishing in the first half left much to be desired.
In the second half, Postecoglou made a tactical change by substituting Johnson with Dejan Kulusevski but his free corner kick was the direct consequence for Qarabag’s goalkeeper, Mateusz Kochalski to misjudge the situation and only to Sarr to volley home from close range. And it is with the score still 2-0, I’m sure Spurs must have been far more assured, yet several moments of hesitation at the back have there created an exciting and suspenseful thriller.
And an awkward challenge by Yves Bissouma resulted in a present penalty for visitors, well again missed by Bayramov, this time completely. Here the fight Qarabag continues was palpable- their usual invasions into Tottenham’s half on opponents’ mistakes were not allowed at last.
Spurred against all those scares, Spurs eventually got into rhythm and Solanke’s goal eased the tension in the 68th minute. Only a brief save by Kochalski on Son Heung-min before the ball fell to Solanke, who tapped it in for a well-deserved Spurs victory.
As Qarabag approached the end, they were straining to get that vital equalizer with poor finishing coupled with solid goalkeeping from Vicario. Even when Juninho managed to send the ball into the back of the net, the offside flag signaled that their hopes had been dashed once again. The game highlighted Tottenham’s desire at the same time showed how important it is to keep cool in a trying time. This win sets Spurs in a winning position going into their Europa League adventure and one expects fans to be on the edge for what awaits them.
