Tottenham put one foot into the Europa League last 16 with a convincing 4-1 win over Wolfsberger in Budapest; Gareth Bale, Heung-Min Son, Lucas Moura and Carlos Vinicius all on target
Tottenham head coach Jose Mourinho says he is ‘happy’ with the performances of Gareth Bale and Dele Alli in their Europa League last-32, first leg 4-1 win against Wolfsberger.
The last-32 first-leg tie was moved from Austria to Hungary’s Puskas Arena due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Heung-Min Son gave Tottenham a 13th-minute lead when he headed in Matt Doherty’s cross.
Tottenham arrived in Budapest having failed to win any of their previous first-leg knockout ties since beating Inter Milan at White Hart Lane during the 2012/13 season, but they were faced by the lowest-ranked side left in this season’s competition.
Wolfsberger, in truth, struggled during a one-sided opening half. Son has often shone in Harry Kane’s absence and he did again as he gave Spurs a 13th-minute lead.
A slick move saw Matt Doherty play in Bale and the Wales international picked out Son, who headed into the far corner between the legs of defender Luka Lochoshvili.
Dele Alli started his first game since January 10 in Tottenham’s Europa League round of 32 first leg against Wolfsberger. Alli has been out with a tendon injury but gets the nod in Jose Mourinho’s starting XI, with Gareth Bale and Son Heung-min also starting.
There was no place in the matchday squad for Harry Kane, who did not travel to Budapest.
This was Wolfsberger’s first ever knockout match in major European football, but they fell further behind when Bale doubled Tottenham’s lead with a brilliant strike just before the half-hour mark. Doherty again played in the Welshman and he cut back inside onto his left foot, leaving Jonathan Scherzer for dead before lashing his shot into the far corner.
Six minutes later, Moura made it 3-0 with a sublime solo effort. The Brazilian breezed past Sven Sprangler, Lochoshvili and Dominik Baumgartner into the box before firing low into the corner to put Spurs in total command.
Wolfsberger had offered very little, with Hugo Lloris’ fine reflex save to claw away Dario Vizinger’s header the closest the Austrian side came to finding a route back into the contest – but Ferdinand Feldhofer’s side improved after the break.
With Son withdrawn ahead of Sunday’s trip to face West Ham, Bale was denied a second when he collected Dele Alli’s cute flick but his curled effort was palmed to safety by Alexander Kofler.
Four minutes later, Wolfsberger were handed the chance of reducing the deficit when Sissoko was caught on the ball as Spurs played out from a goal-kick, with referee Ali Palabiyik well-placed to spot a foul on Wernitznig.
Liendl converted his penalty into the bottom corner to breathe life into the contest, and Wolfsberger came within inches of a second when their captain Liendl then turned provider for Wernitznig to fire his shot against the underside of the crossbar with 20 minutes remaining.
Mourinho turned to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Tanguy Ndombele to regain control of midfield and Tottenham’s greater depth told in the closing stages as they added a fourth.
Hojbjerg’s cross from the right was glanced on by fellow substitute Erik Lamela and Vinicius showed his predatory instincts to divert the ball over the line from close range.
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