LONDON: Ten-man Tottenham Hotspur secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Azerbaijani side Qarabag in their opening Europa League group stage clash on Thursday after the match was delayed by over half an hour due to travel disruptions.
Spurs were reduced to 10 men after eight minutes when Radu Dragusin was shown a red card, but four minutes later Brennan Johnson put the English side ahead with a side-footed finish and Pape Matar Sarr doubled the lead seven minutes after the break.
Dominic Solanke effectively sealed the win in the 68th minute when he tapped home the third after an error by Qarabag keeper Mateusz Kochalski.
Qarabag had chances, Tural Baymarov missing from the penalty spot just before the hour mark and Junior hitting the woodwork, but Spurs stayed in control of the match.
“When you go down to 10 men, invariably at times you can’t be as aggressive or keep the ball as much or play as fluently, but for the most part the intent was there,” said Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou.
“That’s the kind of team we want to be and whatever challenge we have before us, to tackle it that way.”
But Son Heung-min gave the north Londoners an injury scare when he was forced off in the 70th minute. The sight will be concerning for Postecoglou, who cannot afford to be without his talismanic captain for a long period.
“He said he was a bit tired but I haven’t spoken to him or the medical staff yet,” Postecoglou said.
Meanwhile, AS Roma had to settle for a 1-1 home draw with Athletic Bilbao after Aitor Paredes’s late equaliser for the Spanish side at Stadio Olimpico.
Ukrainian forward Artem Dovbyk scored with a powerful header in the 32nd minute of the teams’ first European meeting, but Paredes levelled with a header five minutes from time.
In the night’s other match, Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce beat Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1 as the Portuguese boss started his bid to win the tournament for the third time in his career.
Mourinho, who won the competition with Manchester United and FC Porto, watched as Caglar Soyuncu put Fenerbahce ahead in the 26th minute before Christian Burgess’s 82nd-minute own goal doubled the lead.
Ross Sykes’ stoppage-time reply for Union came after Franjo Ivanovic missed a penalty for the visitors, who had Kevin Mac Allister sent off.
Elsewhere, Rangers took an early lead against Swedish side Malmo through Nedim Bajrami in an early kickoff before Ross McCausland sealed a 2-0 win for the Scottish side.
Ajax Amsterdam overwhelmed Turkey’s Besiktas 4-0 at home thanks to goals by Kian Fitz-Jim, Kenneth Taylor and a brace from Mika Godts.
Olympique Lyonnais clinched a 2-0 home victory over Conference League champions Olympiacos through quick-fire second-half goals by Rayan Cherki and Said Benrahma.
Eintracht Frankfurt were held to a 3-3 home draw by Viktoria Plzen after the Czech side fought back with two late goals.
Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2024
