Europa League: Tottenham 3 (Johnson 12', Matar Sarr 52', Solanke 68') Qarabag FK 0 Ange Postecoglou had talked about how keenly Tottenham felt their absence from European competition last season – a “real gap in our calendar,” as the manager put it. And so what was a wait for a further 35 minutes? It was a night of transport chaos around White Hart Lane, overland trains suspended, roads blocked, seeing the kick-off delayed. It set the tone for a wild tie against Qarabag, Spurs’s Europa League curtain-raiser featuring a red card for their centre-half, Radu Dragusin, inside seven minutes and countless close shaves in front of their goal.
How did they manage a clean sheet? Guglielmo Vicario was a big part of the reason. Spurs made their punches count at the other end and when Dominic Solanke made it 3-0 in the 68th minute, they could coast to victory. Which is not a line that chimed with much of what had gone before.
Brennan Johnson, though, made it three goals in three games with the opener and Pape Sarr got the second, leaving the club’s fans to revel in a fun occasion. It will be a long road to the final in Bilbao. Spurs are up and running.
The Qarabag bus had been caught in the grinding traffic, having wended its way from the team hotel in Stratford – a mere 12 miles away, hardly the Baku beyond. The Azerbaijan champions only arrived inside the stadium at 7.35pm, far from ideal for them.
Or Spurs. There were early errors on both sides, huge ones, starting with Dr.
