Further consequences of Radu Dragusin's red card for Son Heung-min, Postecoglou and Tottenham

It wouldn't be Tottenham Hotspur if there wasn't an element of chaos to proceedings.

Those before kick-off were outside of their control as most trains into the area were cancelled due to a person being hit by a train on the line between Tottenham Hale and Broxbourne. There were issues on the roads with closures and it was the ensuing traffic that left the Qarabag team bus stuck for two-and-a-half hours trying to cover the 12 miles or so from their hotel in Stratford to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

There were some suggestions that they ditched their coach and were spotted walking along Tottenham High Road and into the ground, but that was later claimed to have not been the case.

Spurs will eventually have a big blade-like hotel built at the south end of their stadium complex, in time for Euro 2028 and at least then opposition teams - if they stay there - will actually be able to walk into the ground.

On Thursday evening, the transport issues meant a 35-minute delay to the kick-off as both the opposition and supporters very slowly made their way across north London.

Qarabag boss Gurban Gurbanov was unhappy after the game that firstly his team did not have a police escort for their coach to get through the traffic and then that they were told when they arrived that they had to be ready to play within 40 minutes.

Yet Spurs looked the team more affected in the early stages with some sloppy play and in Radu Dragusin's case a dreadful seventh minute decision or two ensured a chaotic start on the pitch.

READ MORE: Tottenham player ratings vs Qarabag - Dragusin daft, Johnson and Solanke score, Van de Ven vital

READ MORE: Every word Ange Postecoglou said on whether he spoke to Dragusin and Bergvall and why Son came off

First the 22-year-old allowed a Micky van de Ven pass to run past him rather than take it under control and Juninho duly ran on to it. Dragusin then compounded the error by hauling the Qarabag man to the ground as the last defender and the red card was flourished.

Ange Postecoglou simply shook his head and turned away from the pitch, unable to legislate for moments like that. He put out his hand for the Romanian to shake as he left the pitch but he will be well aware of the potential consequences of the young defender's actions, even though his team-mates mostly impressed without him.

Immediately, the red card robbed Lucas Bergvall of the chance of a big European night under the lights in front of the 51,757-strong crowd that managed to get to the stadium. The young Swede looked gutted as he trudged off the pitch, sacrificed by Postecoglou in order to bring on Destiny Udogie to allow the back four to be restored.

Spurs captain Son Heung-min went over to Bergvall before he left the pitch to have a word and shake his hand to make sure he knew that this was only an unfortunate blip. The teenager sat on the bench with his hood pulled as high around his face, trying to hide the disappointment of his short evening.

There could be further consequences though of Dragusin's unfortunate moment. It meant that Postecoglou needed to leave some players on for longer than he likely would have if Spurs had taken a grip of the game sooner with 11 players.

With 10 players they were still allowing chances and the Tottenham boss had to keep on players like Son, Dominic Solanke and Van de Ven for far longer than he probably would have done with the trip to Manchester United coming up so quickly on Sunday, with Udogie also set for a rest that didn't arrive.

There could be further consequences for his captain as Son looked troubled in the aftermath of Solanke's goal. It was the South Korean star's shot that was saved by the keeper in the build-up but he was unable to rush over to celebrate after the striker fired home the rebound, only slowly walking over to him after the others.

Son then sat down on the turf and required treatment from the medical staff before coming off.

In his press conference after the game, Postecoglou said: "I haven't spoken to him. He said he felt a bit tired, but I haven't spoken to him or the medical team yet."

The initial feeling in the room was that the Australian has said 'tight' rather than 'tired' but on listening back he clearly says the latter. However, the look on Son's face and the way he was moving suggested the other word might have been a better description.

With another press conference to come straight away on Friday afternoon, Postecoglou could divulge further news on his captain but losing his experienced winger from the game against Manchester United would be a blow.

On Thursday, he was asked what he said to both Dragusin and Bergvall after that early chaos.

"Nothing specifically to them. I mean, it was just a consequence of us starting the game really slowly," he said. "It was just not a great start for us. We were really passive with our passing. Whether it was the delay to the game or whatever, but it's no excuse. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot and unfortunately Radu and Lucas paid the ultimate price for it.

"But as a team, we just didn't start the game in the way we wanted to and the way we needed to and made the game challenging for us. The response was great, absolutely, but disappointed we had to be in that position."

Archie Gray, who put in a non-stop Energizer Bunny of a performances, told TNT Sports after the final whistle: "It was a tough game, especially after the first few minutes. Everyone makes mistakes and obviously Radu didn't want to do that. We'll all here for him and mistakes happen.

"It was a tough match, they did well and especially towards the end we were pinned back a little bit. I think we could have started a bit better, even when we had 11 men we could have moved the ball quicker, but overall it's a good result to get in the first game at home in the European fixtures."

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He added on reorganising after the sending off: "You try to stay calm. Things happen in football and you've just got to be able to get on with it and move on. That's part of football and the challenge. Everyone just took it in their stride, I thought and we helped each other on the pitch, which was the main thing.

"We had to change a few things obviously but overall I thought we dealt with it well. We can still move the ball quicker and loads of things we can work on but definitely good to get a result."

Some will point towards Tottenham being open with 10 men and continuing to attack rather than trying to shut up shop and catch their opponent on the break.

It's the Postecoglou way of course and it is going to allow chances for the opposition, one or two of which Qarabag should have taken on Thursday night.

However, it has also brought success for Spurs in all three games under the Australian in which they've ended the game with 10 men, with this 3-0 win and previously the 1-0 victory at Luton last season and the 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest, although they had already scored twice there by the time Yves Bissouma was sent off in the 70th minute. The game against Chelsea is a more extreme example because Spurs were down to nine men.

It's probably fair to say that while there has been the odd exception, Tottenham have not fared particularly well when going down to 10 men in recent years on the whole. Think Japhet Tanganga's exit at Crystal Palace under Nuno Espirito Santo or Erik Lamela's dismissal at Arsenal under Jose Mourinho. At least under Postecoglou they give themselves a chance and it's worked thus far.

On Friday morning, Spurs tweeted "10 men and we never stopped playing our football", which some fans took as a light-hearted nod towards their north London rivals who shut up shop at Manchester City only to concede a late goal at the weekend.

That Tottenham struck within five minutes of the Dragusin's departure said plenty about their desire to stick to Postecoglou's football.

Pape Matar Sarr and Solanke combined to ensure Spurs pressed and won back possession before the later used his strength to hold off his man and feed Brennan Johnson. The 23-year-old Wales international continued a great eight days with his third goal in three matches with yet another clinical finish into the bottom left corner.

"Obviously we want to be a team that tackles whatever challenge we have in a certain way. When you go down to 10-men invariably at times you can't be as aggressive or keep the ball as much or play as fluently but for the most part the intent was there," said Postecoglou.

"The first goal comes from us pressing. We were pressing with 10-men and we win the ball high up, which is what we wanted to do and we ended up scoring a goal from it. I think for the most part the boys showed that intent. That's the kind of team we want to be and whatever challenge we have before us, is to tackle it that way."

This was another narrative-busting match for Spurs with Johnson continuing to silence his doubters and Solanke making it back-to-back goals to hush some very premature worries after his £65million move from Bournemouth as he continues to show that with his high-pressing energetic style, focal point play and poacher ability, he's a great fit for this Tottenham system.

"I thought again Brennan was really important for us, particularly today going down to 10 men pretty early, we're going to need some attacking outlet and I thought he, Dom and Sonny provided that and obviously we needed a goal," said Postecoglou.

"I thought it was a good first goal for us because we were with only 10 men, but we still pressed and forced a mistake and Brennan's been good at taking up those positions and him and Dom have a good little sort of relationship there in terms of working off each other and he took his goal well. As you said, that's three in three games for him, and long may it continue."

READ MORE: What Ange Postecoglou told his Tottenham stars in the dressing room and the new leader in his squad

READ MORE: Tottenham player ratings vs Qarabag - Dragusin daft, Johnson and Solanke score, Van de Ven vital

There were other eye-catching performances with Micky van de Ven in fine form in mopping up as much as he could behind the backline, while Udogie entered the fray early on and provided some important interceptions.

Ben Davies had a couple of sticky moments in possession but was a busy presence and Whoscored's data-based ratings ranked him as the highest rated defender (7.44) thanks to his one tackle, one interception and six clearances.

Gray was their second-highest mark of the backline with 7.20 with two tackles and two clearances, while he blocked one shot and played two key passes in the opposition half. The teenager belied his 18 years of age for much of the encounter, putting in a high energy display with plenty of glimpses of his exciting future.

Remaining high and still often inverted meant there was always going to be space at times in behind him, especially with 10 men, but Postecoglou called the youngster "outstanding" after the game.

"I'm really grateful to have the manager we've got. I'm a big fan of him," said Gray. " I'm grateful to have him here and to learn so much off him, it's a big opportunity for me.

"To hear stuff like that from him, it makes you trust yourself even more and have more confidence to go out there and be fearless.

"That's what he wants from us and hopefully we can go out and do that every game we're trusted to be in."

Postecoglou also decided to select Guglielmo Vicario for the match, a call that could have thrown more light on leaving Djed Spence out of his Europa League squad in order to include Fraser Forster.

However, there was no debating the decision to select Vicario afterwards as the Italian was excellent throughout with a series of saves, including rushing out to bail out Davies with a sliding tackle outside his box. He also made a brilliant full stretch save to deny Elvin Jafarguliyev's curling shot from outside the box.

While he didn't save Tural Bayramov's missed penalty, it was somewhat fitting that Vicario's animated style before the kick, jumping and repeatedly punching his crossbar ended up predicting the exact spot the Qarabag player would hit with his strike before it deflected up and over the goal.

There was a big moment for the Italian after Son went off when the players tried to get Davies to take on the armband but the Welshman rightly handed it to Vicario, who football.london reported last week had officially been added to the team's leadership group in the summer with Son, James Maddison and Cristian Romero.

It meant a lot to the goalkeeper, who posted on Instagram after the game: "A day that I will not forget. The first one as captain, leading this great club, at home, in a European cup and more importantly getting the three points. Proud. This one is for those fans that are always by our side no matter what."

Sarr also impressed in the second half after a quieter first period and scored an important second goal for Tottenham - a set piece goal - as he volleyed the ball home off a defender on the line when Dejan Kulusevski's cross was flapped at by the visiting goalkeeper. The young midfielder also showed great control before combining with Kulusevski to get the ball to Son before Spurs' third goal.

Yves Bissouma's display was more mixed with some very good moments, including three interceptions, three clearances and one tackle, but also a number of poor moments in possession and the penalty was unfortunate but his first contact was against the player before his second got the ball.

There was also a late European debut for 17-year-old Mikey Moore, who had the crowd singing his name as one of their own.

Dragusin's red card and one-match ban will have further consequences in the days ahead with another defender needed to play all three games next week - potentially Cristian Romero after his suspension-enforced break.

Some players will be fresh to face United this Sunday though in Romero, Maddison, Pedro Porro, and on the whole Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski, who were second half substitutes as well as Brennan Johnson, who came off at the break.

All eyes will be on Son though and whether Postecoglou will have his captain available this weekend. Tottenham will go into the game at Old Trafford off the back of three straight wins in eight days, but they know that everyone will be watching to see whether they step up on the bigger stage.

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