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Tottenham overcome chaotic start to ease past Qarabag in Europa League

rob bagchi
·24-min read
Brennan Johnson celebrates a goal - Tottenham score three despite Radu Dragusin's early red card
Brennan Johnson put Spurs ahead only shortly after they were reduced to ten men - Getty/Marc Atkins

It may have been chaotic, but 10-man Tottenham Hotspur made a winning return to European football and Thursday nights could be a lot of fun if they carry on like this.

Brennan Johnson, Pape Sarr and Dominic Solanke scored the goals that handed Spurs what looked like, on paper at least, an easy Europa League victory.

But this was anything but a routine win, as Tottenham had Radu Dragusin sent-off before they went ahead and survived a number of huge scares - the biggest of which was a missed penalty from Qarabag, who almost didn’t even get to the Spurs stadium in time for the game to be played.

Heung-Min Son hobbled off towards the end and Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou said: “He said he felt a bit tired, but I haven’t spoken to him or the medicals.”

Qarabag were only staying 12 miles away in Stratford, but severe travel disruption meant they did not arrive for the game until 7.45pm.

That was just 15 minutes before the scheduled 8pm kick-off, so the start of the game was delayed until 8.35pm with a number of fans also suffering travel problems on the roads and public transport.

“Imagine being caught in traffic for more than two-and-a-half hours,” said Qarabag manager Gurban Gurbanov. “It shouldn’t have happened. We had to come ourselves, there was no police to escort us and obviously it had a big impact on our players. As soon as we arrived, we were told in 40 minutes we have to start. We were not as prepared as we should have been.”

Just as it seemed the night could not get any stranger, Tottenham were reduced to 10 men in just the seventh minute. Dragusin was played into trouble by Micky van de Ven and then dragged back Juninho, as the Qarabag forward started to accelerate away from him.

“I wasn’t happy as I felt we started really sloppy,” said Postecoglou. “We talked about starting with a high-tempo and it was almost like the delay got to us. We were passive in our passing and when that happens someone switches off. The reaction after that was good, but I’m not happy with the start.”

Five minutes after Dragusin’s red card, Tottenham went ahead through Johnson. Julio Romao turned into Solanke, who played the ball out to Johnson and he finished confidently past Mateusz Kochalski for his third goal in three games.

Rather than try to defend their lead, Tottenham continued to try to play high up the pitch. Johnson should have doubled the home team’s advantage when he beat Kochalski to Archie Gray’s long ball, but he rolled the ball wide of the post.

Qarabag missed an even better chance five minutes before half-time and Juninho will still be wondering how he did not score from Elvin Jafarguliyev’s cross. With the goal at his mercy and from inside the six-yard box, Juninho somehow steered the ball wide.

Dejan Kulusevski replaced goalscorer Johnson at half-time and the change worked out brilliantly for Spurs, as the Swede was instrumental in their second goal that finally gave Postecoglou’s team some breathing space.

Kulusevski won and took the corner that Kochalski flapped at and Sarr was unmarked to find the back of the net.

Tottenham did their best to make life difficult for themselves, as three minutes after going two goals ahead Yves Bissouma conceded a penalty for a foul on Jafarguliyev. Tural Bayramov stepped up, but sent his spot-kick over via the top of the crossbar.

Viacario had to make two good saves in quick succession to keep Qarabag out and Abdellah Zoubir found himself unmarked in the area, but sent a header too close to Vicario before Juninho struck the outside of the post.

The travelling supporters could hardly believe their team had not managed to score. And Qarabag were punished with just over 20 minutes remaining, as Solanke marked his European debut for Spurs with a goal. Kochalski made a mess of Son’s shot and Solanke was there to prod in the rebound.

Tottenham 3 Qarabag 0: As it happened

10:45 PM BST

And finally, here’s Postecoglou

I wasn’t happy because we started really sloppily and we had spoken about playing with high intensity. I don’t know whether it was the delay. When that happens someone switches off and Radu [Dragusin] paid the price. The good thing was that we still pressed with 10 men and were aggressive. We knew their full-backs come high so we knew if we pressed we could get Sonny and Brennan in. We needed a second because fatigue would set in. We’ve worked hard on our set-pieces. Dom has been great for us. He went through that long drought of two games without a goal … he’s been great not just his goal but his link-up play. Strong performance. You have to win your home games because every away game, no matter who you play, is challenging in Europe.

10:37 PM BST

Seven games to go but here’s an early table

10:36 PM BST

Man of the match Dominic Solanke speaks to TNT Sports

I’m very happy to get the win. The boys fought hard. Going down to 10 men early on could have made it difficult [but] we grew into the game and got the job done.

My injury at the start of the season knocked my rhythm.  I think I can still get fi

10:29 PM BST

Full time: Spurs 3 Qarabag 0

Postecoglou may have felt like tearing his hair out when Dragusin let him and his team-mates down but his attacking players were clinical and Qarabag so profligate it was ridiculous. There will be concerns about the number of chances they yielded but they did play 82 minutes with 10 men.

10:27 PM BST

90+2 min: Spurs 3 Qarabag 0

Gray inserts himself between Addai and Vicario to hold the forward off when chasing a ball knocked up the middle.

10:26 PM BST

90 min: Spurs 3 Qarabag 0

Spurs are finally managing the game conservatively through possession and passing. But they can’t help themselves and suddenly jolt into a raid up the left with Sarr and Moore but Kochalski stops them.

Three minutes of stoppage time to come.

10:22 PM BST

87 min: Spurs 3 Qarabag 0

Leandro Andrade crosses from the right, Bentancur air-kicks his attempted clearance and it falls at the feet of Addai eight yards out and takes him by surprise. Blimey! Their finishing has been preposterous.

10:20 PM BST

85 min: Spurs 3 Qarabag 0

Moore ⇢ Solanke and two I missed eralier:

Jankovic ⇢ Zoubir
A Guseynov ⇢ Silva.

10:19 PM BST

83 min: Spurs 3 Qarabag 0

Juninho slips when shaping to meet the substitute Jankovic’s cross with a bicycle kick and lands flat on his tuchas.

10:18 PM BST

81 min: Spurs 3 Qarabag 0

You can imagine Ange coming out all gladatorial after this when questioned on the number of chances they gave up and the contrast between the seat of the pants defending and their smooth attacking work: ‘Are you not entertained?’

10:16 PM BST

79 min: Spurs 3 Qarabag 0

Kulusevski is penalised  for a blatant handball, controlling a long pass with his elbow.

10:15 PM BST

No goal for Qarabag

Juninho was offside. He had stood still when Qarabag played the corner shorta nd Spurs pushed up but he darted back and went again to meet the cross though not quickly enough.

10:14 PM BST

VAR check

Terrific save from Vicario from a fierce Cafarguliyuev drive concedes a corner that Juninho heads in from the penalty spot.

10:12 PM BST

74 min: Spurs 3 Qarabag 0

According to xG and its associated alchemies, Qarabag have had the better quality chances. Two more shots, from the lively Addai and Juninho are kept out by a lack of precision.

10:10 PM BST

71 min: Spurs 3 Qarabag 0

Double Tottenham substitution:

Bentancur ⇢ Bissouma
Werner ⇢ Son.

10:04 PM BST

GOAL!

Tottenham 3 Qarabag 0 (Solanke)  Udogie dribbles up the left, clips it inside to Kulusevski who lays it off to his left to Son. The captain wraps his right instep around a shot, bending it towards the bottom right but without all that much power.  Kochalski parried it instead of catching it and patted straight to Solanke for a tap-in on the rebound.

10:03 PM BST

68 min: Spurs 2 Qarabag 0

Two Qarabag subs:

Leandro Andrade → Bayramov
Addai → Romao.

Two attacking midfielders on for a winger and a DM.

10:02 PM BST

67 min: Spurs 2 Qarabag 0

From the rebound Qarabag motor forward and Juninho gets into the space vacated by Udogie, beasting the fading Davies on the outside and then pumps his shot into the side-netting. Do they not like goals in Azerbaijan?

10:00 PM BST

64 min: Spurs 2 Qarabag 0

Spurs, looking tired but dangerous on the break, find Udogie in space and support him on a run up the left. He centres to Sarr who shoots from 20 yards straight into Romao’s shinpads.

09:58 PM BST

62 min: Spurs 2 Qarabag 0

Free header at the back post for Zoubir meeting Bayramov’s pinpoint cross and he steers it meekly at Vicario.

09:57 PM BST

60 min: Spurs 2 Qarabag 0

Son and Solanke link up down the left and break through the bank of defenders for Solanke to shoot, firing an angled shot into the onrushing, scrambling Kochalski. Qarabag shift it from back to front in 10 seconds and Bayramov flays another shot that Vicario tips over the bar. Not so much end-to-end as madcap.

09:54 PM BST

Missed!

Hammers it on to the top of the cross-bar and over. Spanked it but way too high. Spurs give the ball straight back to them from the goal-kick and Juninho fires a shot straight down Vicario’s throat. How many chances do they want to waste?

09:52 PM BST

Qarabag penalty

Will be checked by VAR. Bissouma makes contact with Cafarguliyev’s heel before he slid in to complete a thunderous tackle. But the pen stands and Bissouma is booked.

09:48 PM BST

GOAL!

Spurs 2-0 Qarabag (Sarr)  From the corner. Sarr, at the back post, backpedals to meet a flick-on perfectly and thread his shot through Andrade’s legs on the goal-line and in off his heel.

09:48 PM BST

53 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Gray and Kulusevski link up well, Gray playing it back to the senior man with a back-flick to complete the one-two and send Kulusevski to the byline to cross and earn a corner.

09:46 PM BST

51 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Solanke dribbles into the box from the left, industrious as ever, beats one defender but when he tries to stand up a cross for Kulusevski a Qarabag leg sticks it behind for a corner that comes to naught.

09:44 PM BST

49 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Tempter of a cross from Gray on the right, clearing the keeper but Solanke was on his heels and Guseynov wellied it clear.

09:43 PM BST

47 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Son cuts in from the left on to his right and shoots from 22 yards, straight into Romao. Sarr and Udogie both attempt crosses from the left in the aftermath but cannot beat the first man.

09:41 PM BST

46 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Postecoglou makes a half-time change designed, one assumes, to give Archie Gray a helping hand defensively as Johnson insouciantly stayed high.

Kulusevski ⇢ Johnson.

09:26 PM BST

Half-time: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Enterprising going forward but riddled with defensive errors, Spurs go in 1-0 up but cannot hope to keep Qarabag goalless if they keep yielding so many chances when Juninho presses high.

09:24 PM BST

45 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Davies is caught just like Dragusin by Juninho and robbed of the ball with a tackle that pushes the ball 15 yards forward and Vicario, in the nick of time, sprints 30 yards out to slide in and beat Juninho to it.

Vicario and Juninho
Vicario to the rescue - Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

09:22 PM BST

44 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Silva bombs down the right and arcs a long cross towards the back post and Juninho meets it at the apex of his leap but scuffs it into the ground. Andrade tries to feed on the scraps and scrapes a left-foot shot from 15 yards way wide. They keep making chances which has to be a worry.

09:19 PM BST

42 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Udogie was limping momentarily after taking a blow on the knee in the tackle but he seems OK.

09:18 PM BST

40 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Juninho misses a tap-in after lurking offside until he trotted back in the nick of time to go again and meet Cafarguliyev’s cross. He opens his body looking to steer it in at the right post but diverts it wide.

Juninho shoots wide
Juninho misses a sitter - Andrew Kearns/CameraSport via Getty Images

09:16 PM BST

38 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Qarabag have decided to test whether Gray is as good defensively and double-team him with Cafarguliyev and Zoubir and they force him to concede a corner which they waste by whacking it straight at the near post for Vicario to cover easily.

09:14 PM BST

36 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Cafarguliyev hares down the left and Gray decides not to engage. The left-back whips over a low, skidding cross that was arrowing towards Juninho for a tap in but Vicario scrambled off his line and dived headlong to bat it out of the box.

09:12 PM BST

34 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Sarr clips a 60-yard diagonal that Son runs on to and gets to the byline before the flag goes up. Ach. He should have been more carefully watching Mustafazade there.

09:11 PM BST

32 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

I’m biased, having watched Archie Gray all last season and frequently in the youth set-up before that, but he has started very well on the ball.

Archie Gray
Archie Gray

09:08 PM BST

30 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Seconds before that Johnson chance Juninho had positioned himself perfectly on Van de Ven’s shoulder 40 yards out and was put through eventually. The delay, though, meant he knew he was offside and he gave up and waited for the whistle.

09:06 PM BST

28 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Big chance for Johnson when Gray clips a 50-yard pass up the inside-right. Kochalski races off his line to deal with it and comes to the 18-yard line but not before Johnson gets there and loops a shot around the stranded keeper and towards the vacant goal. But he can only hook it into the side-netting.

09:04 PM BST

25 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

While looking vulnerable on the break (and Qarabag are set up to hit them where it hurts when they expose their tender bits), Spurs have played well since the red card.

09:02 PM BST

23 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Cafarguliyev is booked for booting Gray across the shins as the Prince of Pannal made a good run up the right.

09:01 PM BST

21 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Tottenham are wide open again when Qarabag win the ball in midfield with their press and launch a five-man raiding party straight up the middle but Van de Ven’s pace saves the day once more.

Brennan Johnson celebrates
Brennan Johnson scores his third goal of the season - Marc Atkins/Getty Images

08:58 PM BST

18 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Juninho sprints through the middle, once again exploiting Tottenham’s high line. He has Bayramov close by in a   supporting run but Udogie manages to stop them as Juninho passed the buck to his team-mate who lost control and had a panicky swipe at the ball with his studs.

08:56 PM BST

15 min: Spurs 1 Qarabag 0

Since the goal Spurs have switched to 4-4-1, pushing Son and Johnson on. Having the extra man lured Qarabag out of their shell a bit and they paid the price for dawdling on the ball.

08:50 PM BST

GOAL!

Tottenham 1-0 Qarabag (Johnson) Sarr and Solnake hound Romao and win the ball 30 yards out, Solanke takes it forward 10 yards, opens his body and rolls it to his right and Johnson applies the calm, crisp right-foot finish. Spurs, undone by the press, turn the tables on Qarabag.

08:49 PM BST

11 min: Spurs 0 Qarabag 0

It was very poor defending by Dragusin and it has cost Bergvall his chance.

Udogie ⇢ Bergvall.

08:47 PM BST

9 min: Spurs 0 Qarabag 0

The high line did for them. The interception exposed half the field and the quick Juninho was poised to exploit it until Dragusin entangled him.

Udogie is about to come on. Presumably for Bergvall, sadly.

08:46 PM BST

Red card for Tottenham

Dragusin knocks Juninho over after the Brazilian intercepted the pass as Dragusin tried to be clever and raced through the middle one-on-one from halfway. The Romania centre-half stumbled into the back of him and bundled him over. Keystone Kops stuff.

08:44 PM BST

6 min: Spurs 0 Qarabag 0

Dragusin sweeps a pass up the right wing and he finds Johnson’s in-to-out run to gather the ball, spin and cross but he was closed down by Cafarguliyev and the ball rebounded back on to his shin and out for a goal-kick.

08:42 PM BST

4 min: Spurs 0 Qarabag 0

Having navy sleeves rather negates the aesthetic and value of wearing white shorts in their Lilywhite European tradition. Spurs were hogging possession until Silva wins it on the right and arrows a long diagonal over to Juninho who lays it off to Zoubir to run into the box. Van de Ven races over on the cover, wins the tackle and dribbles his way out of danger.

08:40 PM BST

2 min: Spurs 0 Qarabag 0

Benzia trips Bissouma on the Tottenham left, about 40 yards out. Bissouma takes it and surprises Son with a short pass to his left. Qarabag snap into the tackle but Bissouma recovers and retrieves the ball on halfway.

08:38 PM BST

1 min: Spurs 0 Qarabag 0

Qarabag kick off, attacking from right to left and Solanke closes the keeper down as the away side work it back to Kochalski who knocks it long up the left and out.

08:33 PM BST

Now there’s a delay because the referee wants a change of socks

He says the Qarabag captain, Guseynov, is wearing non-regulation socks and forces him to swap them. Don’t mind us. Sleep is overrated.

08:32 PM BST

Son Heung-min leads Tottenham out

They’re wearing their dinky white shorts as usual in Europe. Qarabag are all in black.

08:30 PM BST

The teams are in the tunnel

At last we’re ready to start… the build-up to the start.

08:05 PM BST

Opta has Spurs as fourth favourites

This analysis was published before a ball had been kicked in the tournament:

08:03 PM BST

Good start for Rangers if you’re interested

They beat Malmo 2-0 in Stockholm:

07:53 PM BST

Kick-off will be at 8.35pm

The Qarabag team coach was given a police escort for the last stretch of a One Foot in the Grave bank holiday-style traffic jam.

07:47 PM BST

Qarabag have arrived

So we should have a revised kick-off date imminently.

07:43 PM BST

While we wait, let’s go back nine years

07:40 PM BST

Still no Qarabag

And hence no kick-off time yet.

07:38 PM BST

Earlier in London

Who needs a coach when you can get a bus? Doing the rounds on social media this afternoon was this picture of Daniel Levy at the bus-stop after the Premier League meeting, taking public transport to get back to Tottenham for the match.

Daniel Levy at the bus stop
Daniel Levy at the bus stop

07:28 PM BST

Delay could be 30 minutes

Tottenham Hotspur’s first Europa League game of the season against Qarabag after the away team were delayed in traffic.

The Qarabag team had still not arrived at the Tottenham stadium at 7.30pm, half-an-hour before the scheduled kick off.

Tottenham confirmed the kick-off had been delayed without initially giving a new time. Uefa sources indicated that the game should now kick-off around 8.30pm.

07:25 PM BST

Ange Postecoglou talks to TNT Sports

It’s exciting to be back in Europe. We’re super excited. We have a young group with players who want to create their own legacy. In the Premier League there are teams who play differently but there’s always a different challenge from normal in playing European football and it allows you to evolve.

It’s going to be a real taster for them [Gray and Bergvall]. They’re part of the first team. They don’t look like 18-year-olds at all. I’m comfortable putting them in from the way they’ve been in training and when they’ve played.

This club has not had success for a very long time. Not winning for so long becomes a millstone round your neck and to release that you’ve got to win something.

We have changed the way the team played but it’s now time to turn that into something meaningful and that is winning trophies.

07:20 PM BST

Kick-off delayed

To a time not yet confirmed because of gridlock and disruption around Tottenham in teeming rain.

07:06 PM BST

Line-ups for the monochrome set

Tottenham  Vicario; Gray, Dragusin, Van de Ven, Davies; Sarr, Bissouma, Bergvall; Johnson, solnake, Son.

Qarabag  Kochalski; Silva, Mustafazade, Huseynov, Cafarguliyev; Julio Romao, Andrade; Benzia; Bayramov, Juninho, Zoubir.

Referee  Willy Delajod (France).

06:53 PM BST

Tottenham team news

Spurs make six changes but keep front three from Brentford victory intact.

05:05 PM BST

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05:02 PM BST

Preview: Spoke in rotation plans

Good evening and welcome to live coverage of Tottenham Hotspur’s opening Europa League match of the 2024-25 campaign against Qarabag, 10 times champions of Azerbaijan in the past 11 years. These two have met before, back in 2015-16, when Spurs won 3-1 at White Hart Lane and 1-0 in Baku, two of the six defeats English clubs have inflicted on the Horseman in the last decade. Since it’s the first game, we had better have a quick recap of the new Swiss model Europa League: each of the 36 qualifiers now has eight matches, six before Christmas, two in January, half home and away but against eight different opponents, two from each of four pots of seeds.

All sides are in one league and the top eight at the end of the stage go through to the last 16 while the teams between ninth and 24th then have another two-legged play-off to qualify for R16. That means to win the tournament, those on the ‘express’ route will play 15 games, those on the scenic route 17. To win a quadruple, therefore, an English club would have to play a minimum of 64 matches, which is roughly what successful clubs gunning on all four fronts were subjected to in the 1970s by virtue of replays and four more league matches. Something’s got to give, something’s got to give, something’s got to give. Or the golden goose will stop laying.

Son Heung-min
Son Heung-min scored twice in Spurs 3-1 victory over Qarabag in 2015-16 - Reuters/Dylan Martinez

Given Tottenham have got Manchester United away on Sunday and have started in lukewarm fashion with a draw with leicester and defeats by Newcastle and Arsenal to go with their two victories, Ange Postecoglou is bound to draw on the lightly raced elements of his squad such as Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin, Lucas Bergvall and Ben Davies. Given Postecoglou did not see fit to register Sergio Reguilón or Djed Spence in the 25-man squad and with Cristian Romero suspended (for his red card in the Champions League R16 defeat by Milan in 2023), they may have to play Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie from the start which would put a stick in the spokes of rotation plans.

Qarabag’s Gurban Gurbanov is starting his 16th season as manager with the club in their customary position at the top of the table. They are already battle-hardened in Europe after winning two Champions League qualification ties before being beaten by Dinamo Zagreb in the play-off and in Juninho, no not that one… or that one, have a potent striker who bagged 31 goals last season, including six in Europe during a run that was only ended by the then invincible Bayer Leverkusen 5-4 on aggregate, Qarabag having led both ties 2-0.