Tottenham win chaotic contest with Qarabag regardless of early purple card – response
Tottenham Hotspur opened their Europa League campaign with an entertaining 3-0 win over Qarabag despite playing the majority of the match down to 10 men after Radu Dragusin’s early red card. Brennan Johnson, Pape Matar Saar and Dominic Solanke were on target as Qarabag missed several chances, as well as a second-half penalty, in a chaotic contest.
Kick-off in north London was delayed by almost 40 minutes with visitors Qarabag arriving late to the ground due to traffic in the capital. Spurs then made a sloppy start, with Dragusin sent off in the seventh minute after hauling down Juninho when he lost control of the ball on the half-way line.
But the response from Ange Postecoglou’s side was impressive. Johnson fired his third goal in as many games five minutes after Dragusin’s red card following Solanke’s pass. Tottenham made it safely to half time despite Qarabag threatening an equaliser, and then doubled their lead after the break when Saar volleyed in from a corner.
Qarabag had a golden opportunity to pull one back from the penalty spot but Toral Bayramov blasted it over the bar and Solanke punished the visitors when he tucked in a rebound soon after for Tottenham’s third. The only concern for Postecoglou was the sight of Son Heung-min limping off ahead of Sunday’s trip to Manchester United in the Premier League.
Follow live updates from Tottenham vs Qarabag in our live blog below
FULL TIME! Tottenham 3-0 Qarabag
A wild win for Spurs.
Tottenham 3-0 Qarabag
90+3 mins: Loads of great performers for Spurs tonight but Micky van de Ven has been immense in the heart of a patched up defence; Vicario and Archie Gray too.
Tottenham 3-0 Qarabag
90 mins: Tottenham are managing to this see out. It’s going to go down as an impressive win after playing with 10 men since the seventh minute. And after being under pressure, Postecoglou’s side are heading for a third win in a row in all competitions.
Into three minutes added on.
Tottenham 3-0 Qarabag
84 mins: Spurs bring on Mikey Moore for some late minutes, replacing Solanke.
A goal and an assist for Solanke tonight. The striker is settling nicely.
NO GOAL! Tottenham 3-0 Qarabag
77 mins: Surely this time for Qarabag… no! Juninho is half a yard offside when he heads past Vicario.
Just before, the goalkeeper produced a brilliant stop to keep Tottenham’s clear sheet. Cafarguliyev hit that well but Vicario was equal to it.
Tottenham 3-0 Qarabag
70 mins: A worry for Spurs, though, as Son Heung-min limps off.
He may have been coming off anyway but Spurs will take no chances with the captain with a trip to Manchester United to come on Sunday.
GOAL! Tottenham 3-0 Qarabag (SOLANKE 68’)
Another for Solanke and breathing space for Spurs! Son’s shot is parried out poorly by Kochalski and Solanke, the poacher, is on hand to tap in his second in as many games for Spurs. That’s a striker’s goal.
Now, after a chaotic 10 minutes, Spurs can maybe shut this down.
Tottenham 2-0 Qarabag
64 mins: POST! It’s 10pm… but it’s crazy from Tottenham. Now Juninho strikes the post for Qarabag, although Vicario may have had it covered. It’s breathless. Tottenham are just refusing to try and shut the game down.
Tottenham 2-0 Qarabag
58 mins: This is CHAOS! What are Tottenham doing?! Immediately from the restart, Tottenham play it out from the back and give it away, leading to a shot on goal that Vicario saves.
Then suddenly Tottenham are breaking, but Solanke can’t convert!
It’s end to end!
MISSED PENALTY! Tottenham 2-0 Qarabag
WHAT A MISS! Let off for Spurs! Toral Bayramov blasts it over the bar!
