Tottenham Hotspur defeated Qarabag 3-0 at home on Thursday to start their Europa League campaign on the right note, despite having to play most of the game with 10 men due to defender Radu Dragusin’s early red card. Spurs took the lead thanks to Brennan Johnson’s third goal in as many games, and in the second half, Pape Matar Sarr and Dominic Solanke secured the points. With the win, the Spurs stand fourth in the table behind Lazio.
The “severe travel disruption” in the surrounding area delayed the kickoff by 35 minutes, allowing Tottenham Hotspur to clinch a remarkable win. The Qarabag squad was caught up in the pandemonium that followed the Met Office’s “yellow weather warning” due to the heavy rain.
Fans didn’t have to wait long for the on-pitch drama to start after waiting for the game to start for more than 30 minutes. In the seventh minute, Dragusin received a straight red card for bringing down Juninho as the final player after the Qarabag striker had robbed him of the ball deep in the Spurs half.
Postecoglou substituted Destiny Udogie for midfielder Lucas Bergvall after the Romanian international received a red card in an attempt to bring some equilibrium back to his team. Spurs scored their first goal shortly after the replacement, whether by intention or luck. In his third straight game, Solanke set up Johnson for a goal, finishing calmly over Mateusz Kochalski, the goalie for Qarabag.
Postecoglou’s team, devoid of a man, continued to press high up the pitch, showing little sign of following Arsenal’s example from their Sunday’s tie with Manchester City. The active Juninho nearly took advantage of the space created by their high defensive line, but in the 40th minute, the Qarabag forward missed a decent opportunity to put the ball into the net.
Shortly after the break, Sarr doubled Spurs’ advantage by volleying an attempt into the bottom corner despite a player on the line’s best efforts to keep it out, punishing Kochalski for a weak punch. Six minutes later, Spurs rode their luck when Yves Bissouma conceded a penalty for a shove on Elvin Cafarquliyev inside the box. Tural Bayramov’s spot kick, regrettably for the visitors, went over Vicario’s goal and clipped the top of the crossbar.
Solanke scored his second goal for Spurs in the 68th minute, sealing the victory. Like his first goal for the team against Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday, the 19-year-old Spurs player found himself with an open goal to score after his teammate, Son Heung-Min, had his shot saved by the goalie. Son hobbled off the field following his physiotherapy session, and it turned out to be his last participation in the match.
Qarabag was still a menace, no matter the result. Vicario made two excellent saves to keep out goals that would have been scored by Yassine Benzia and Cafarquliyev, and Juninho had a header that was almost disallowed for offside.
The much-anticipated 17-year-old Mikey Moore was sent on by Postecoglou to please the home crowd in the last minutes of play, but Moore found it difficult to contribute as Spurs managed to play out the remaining minutes without any significant incidents. The red card was not ideal; we started sloppily, but the reaction afterward was good. We wanted to press high, even with 10 men, Postecoglou told the media. Hotspur will next play Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday (September 29) in a Premier League encounter, and then the Spurs’ will travel to face Hungarian side Ferencvaros in their next Europa League fixture on October 3.
