Tottenham v Elfsborg LIVE: Result as debutant Damola Ajayi hits Europa League beauty
Spurs booked their place in the last 16 of the Europa League with victory over their Swedish visitors
Tottenham Hotspur booked their berth in the Europa League's last 16 with a 3-0 victory over Swedish side Elfsborg on Thursday, with youngsters Dane Scarlett, Damola Ajayi and Mikey Moore netting their debut goals for the London club.
The victory spares Ange Postecoglou's injury-hit team the two-legged knockout round. It was not all good news for the manager as Radu Dragusin had to leave the pitch with an apparent knee injury.
Spurs thoroughly dominated the game, but struggled to break a well-organised defence down, before Scarlett finally broke the deadlock in the 70th minute when Dejan Kulusevski curled the ball into the middle of the six-yard box and the 20-year-old striker headed it into the bottom corner.
The 19-year-old Ajayi netted in the 84th minute when he played a one-two with Scarlett before slotting it into the corner. Moore, 17, celebrated his first goal in a Spurs shirt seconds before the final whistle, driving forward and then beating his man before lashing a shot into the far corner.
Tottenham 0-0 Elfsborg
47 min: Spurs fans will hope those changes are just pre-planned rotations to keep key players fresh, rather any new injury. We’ll update if we hear more.
Kulusevski’s first action is a positive dribble and cross down the right, but Elfsborg deal with the danger.
Tottenham 0-0 Elfsborg
46 min: The second half is underway and Postecoglou makes three changes.
Van de Ven, Bentancur and Son are off; Radu Dragusin, Yves Bissouma and Dejan Kulusevski are on.
Half-time: Tottenham 0-0 Elfsborg
As it stands, Spurs are heading through to the last 16 in sixth place in the league standings and avoiding the play-offs by one point. They would need a few results to change for them to fall out of that position... or to concede here to Elfsborg, of course. That would send Rangers through at Tottenham’s expense.
The player are back out on the pitch.
Peter Crouch: 'Give the ball to Son'
Speaking on TNT Sports, Peter Crouch gives his take on that first half: “Elfsborg have so many players in deep areas, they’re very difficult to break down. Son has been absolutely destroying the full-back down this side and they’ve just got to keep getting the ball to him. That’s got to be the gameplan: keep getting the ball out to Son, keep dribbling, and flood the box because the goal will come.”
Half-time: Tottenham 0-0 Elfsborg
The referee brings a very one-sided half to an end. Son Heung-min was excellent, looking like a Champions League player in a Conference League game, but beyond his dribbling threat there was little else to ruffle Elfsborg’s stoic defence, despite Spurs’ possession and territory.
Tottenham 0-0 Elfsborg
44 min: Spurs’ short corner routine goes wrong as Moore dribbles off the pitch.
Tottenham 0-0 Elfsborg
43 min: Porro’s deep cross is cleared behind by Hedlund and Spurs will have a corner, as half-time nears...
Tottenham 0-0 Elfsborg
40 min: Moore tries to find Richarlison in the box with a throughball but it’s dealt with by the Swedish defence. The Elfsborg fans are the only ones make noise right now inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham 0-0 Elfsborg
38 min: Son again causes problems with his direct dribbling to the byline. His low cross finds Moore, who forces a good save from Petterson with his first-time shot at goal.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments