Report as Tottenham win their opening Europa League fixture; Radu Dragusin sent off in eighth minute but Brennan Johnson soon nets opener; Pape Sarr doubles Spurs' lead; Qarabag's Toral Bayramov skies penalty; Dominic Solanke nets third as Guglielmo Vicario makes string of fine saves
Thursday 26 September 2024 23:32, UK
Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke both scored again for 10-player Tottenham in an entertaining 3-0 victory over Qarabag in the Europa League.
Spurs' European campaign began dramatically when Radu Dragusin was sent off in only the eighth minute for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity after kick-off was delayed by over half an hour due to travel issues which forced Azerbaijani side Qarabag to arrive late.
However, in-form Johnson scored for the third consecutive game just four minutes later before missing an open goal from outside the area after a mistake from visiting goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski.
But it was Qarabag who had a night to forget in front of goal, failing to score from an xG of 2.22. Their dangerman Juninho missed a sitter before half-time and after Pape Sarr had doubled Spurs' lead eight minutes after the break, Toral Bayramov clipped the top of the crossbar with a penalty that was conceded by Yves Bissouma's careless sliding tackle.
Guglielmo Vicario made five saves on the night, tipping over Bayramov's long-range strike before seeing his right post rattled by Juninho's fierce strike.
Spurs rode their luck but wrapped up the win when Solanke tapped his second in two games after Heung-Min Son's shot was saved. Son then walked off gingerly after receiving treatment with manager Ange Postecoglou revealing afterwards his captain felt "a bit tired" ahead of Spurs' trip to Manchester United this Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
Vicario produced his best save from Elvin Cafarquliyev's long-range shot which looked destined for the top right corner and when the goalkeeper was finally beaten by Juninho's header, Spurs were rescued by the offside flag.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou told TNT Sports:
"I wasn't happy as I felt we started really sloppy. 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. With 10 men we still pressed which is what we wanted to do.
"We knew if we win it [the ball] Brennan and Sonny [Son] would have the space. I wanted to get Dejan [Kulusevski] on as he runs hard and I felt we would need some legs in the second half, Brennan is fine."
On Dominic Solanke: "He has been great for us. He went through that long drought of two games without a goal!
"He has been fantastic for us not just goals, but his link-up plays. He is a typical striker.
"He is still working his way back to full fitness."
Qarabag manager Gurban Gurbanov said:
"Imagine being caught in traffic for more than two and a half hours. I cannot just make excuses for this, it shouldn't have happened and there was no police to escort us.
"It had a big impact on our footballers but it doesn't take away from our opponent. They are a good team and we don't turn a blind eye to that.
"As soon as we arrived, we were told to start in 40 minutes and we were not as ready or prepared as we should have been. These things shouldn't happen."
