Tottenham began their Europa League campaign with an impressive victory over Qarabag despite going down to 10 men from the seventh minute.
After a 35-minute delay to kick-off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium because of travel disruptions, the home side were dealt an early blow when defender Radu Dragusin was shown a straight red card for bringing down Juninho in a one-on-one as the Brazilian raced through on goal.
Despite that, Brennan Johnson had the ball in the back of the net five minutes later when Qarabag were caught playing out from the back and Dominic Solanke placed it into the path of the 23-year-old to slot into the bottom corner.
It was Johnson’s third goal in as many games.
Pape Sarr doubled Spurs’ lead in the 52nd minute, controlling the loose ball at the far post before smashing home.
Qarabag were awarded a penalty three minutes later when Yves Bissouma brought Elvin Cafarquliyev down, but Toral Bayramov’s spot-kick was poor and pinged off the crossbar.
The Azerbaijan Premier League champions created an abundance of chances, with Guglielmo Vicario making some fine saves, but ultimately Qarabag lacked the cutting edge that Ange Postecoglou’s side showed at the other end.
Solanke wrapped up victory in the 68th minute after goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski pushed Son Heung-min’s strike from distance into the striker’s path and he produced a confident finish.
Positives for Postecoglou
Postecoglou said before the match the expanding football schedule is reaching a “dangerous level” and therefore used it as an opportunity to shuffle his pack, making six changes from the side that beat Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday.
He handed 18-year-olds Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray their second Spurs starts but, following Dragusin’s dismissal, midfielder Bergvall was sacrificed as defender Destiny Udogie came on.
Swede Bergvall, who snubbed Barcelona to join Spurs in the summer, looked forlorn on the bench as his opportunity to show Postecoglou why he should get more starts was cut short.
There were plenty of positives to take for Postecoglou, though.
Valuable minutes for his young players, a clean sheet despite being down to 10 men and confidence-boosting goals for summer signing Solanke as well as Johnson, who reportedly deactivated his Instagram account because of criticism received in the wake of his club’s derby defeat to Arsenal earlier this month.
But Spurs’ all-out attacking style often leaves them vulnerable to the counter-attack.
Qarabag must have wondered what else they needed to do to find the net as the wasteful Juninho had a goal ruled out for offside, Bayramov went close several times and Vicario produced a brilliant save to deny Cafarquliyev’s long-range strike.
The sight of Son hobbling off in the second half could also be a concern as Spurs face Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday, before a trip to Hungary to face Ferencvaros next week.
