Tottenham started their Europa League campaign with an impressive 3-0 home win over Qarabag despite playing 83 minutes with 10 men.
After kick-off was delayed due to the late arrival of Qarabag’s team bus, Radu Dragusin’s night lasted only seven minutes when he received a red card.
It failed to significantly knock Ange Postecoglou’s team off their stride though, with Brennan Johnson able to score for a third successive match five minutes later before Pape Sarr doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 52nd minute.
A winning start in the @EuropaLeague 👊 pic.twitter.com/2msLeeGSgp
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 26, 2024
Qarabag did regularly threaten and Tural Bayramov fired a spot-kick over after Sarr’s strike, which all but ended the visitors’ hopes and Dominic Solanke made it back-to-back goals with 22 minutes left to ensure Tottenham earned a third win in a row before Sunday’s trip to Manchester United.
Spurs were back in Europe for the first time in 18 months, but kick-off was delayed due to “severe” local transport issues which meant the Qarabag team bus only arrived minutes before the scheduled 8pm start.
When play did finally start, Tottenham faced early problems when Dragusin was dismissed. The defender let the ball run across him and was dispossessed near the halfway by Juninho before he cynically pulled back the Qarabag forward to leave referee Willy Delajod with no choice but to send him off.
Teenage midfielder Lucas Bergvall was the unfortunate Tottenham player to make way for left-back Destiny Udogie but he had barely reached his seat by the time the hosts went ahead.
Sarr initiated the pressure on Qarabag’s back four before Solanke won possession from Julio Romao and played in Johnson, who provided a calm finish into the bottom corner.
It gave Tottenham a precious lead and continued Johnson’s rich vein of form since he deactivated his Instagram account following abuse after the home loss to Arsenal.
Postecoglou’s team dominated possession despite their numerical disadvantage but Qarabag, who were minutes away from knocking out Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16 last season, were able to regularly run through their two-man midfield.
After Bahlul Mustafazade ran through and fluffed his shot, Spurs threatened again when Johnson latched onto Archie Gray’s impressive ball but the in-form forward could only side-foot wide from 18 yards after he got past Qarabag goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski.
The half ended with a flurry of opportunities for the visitors. Juninho inexplicably side-footed wide from Elvin Jafarguliyev’s cross with only Guglielmo Vicario to beat, before the Italian slid in to deny the same player after he had tackled Ben Davies in an incident similar to Dragusin’s red card.
Dejan Kulusevski replaced Johnson and instantly had an impact with a fine run down the right able to force a corner, which created Tottenham’s second goal seven minutes into the second half.
Kochalski, under pressure from Davies, could only get a faint touch on Kulusevski’s corner and Sarr was on hand to volley home at the back post.
Spurs’ joy appeared short-lived three minutes later when Yves Bissouma caught Jafarguliyev inside the area but Bayramov drilled his penalty over.
There were further chances for Juninho, who fired straight at Vicario and sent another effort against the post from a narrow angle, before Tottenham wrapped up the points.
Sarr and Kulusevski combined to tee up Son Heung-min and while his curler was saved by Kochalski, Solanke was on hand to slide home for his first Europa League goal.
Son limped off minutes later in a rare sour note on a positive night for Tottenham.
Interim boss Stephen Frail expects Motherwell to appoint a new manager next week and admits their first job will be to lift the players’ confidence after a 3-0 mauling at home to Ross County.A double from Ronan Hale and Connor Randall’s last-minute strike secured an impressive victory for the Staggies at Fir Park.Defeat sees the Steelmen drop into the bottom half of the Premiership tab...
Mark Hughes heaped praise on goalkeeper Gabe Breeze after Carlisle picked up a vital point in the League Two relegation battle with a goalless draw against in-form Colchester at Brunton Park.Breeze made two excellent saves from Lyle Taylor as the Cumbrians ended a four-game losing run and the former Man City boss was astounded by the 21-year-old’s performance.He said: “The game had som...
Chesterfield boss Paul Cook launched a scathing attack on his play-off hopefuls after they surrendered an early lead to lose 3-1 at Sky Bet League Two table-toppers Walsall.The Spireites enjoyed a rapid start when Jamie Grimes’ eighth-minute header put them ahead against a wobbling Walsall side, who were winless in five matches with the chasing pack closing in.However, Bim Pepple and Dylan D...
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has allayed fears of an injury scare to top scorer Erling Haaland ahead of next week’s Champions League trip to Real Madrid.Haaland went down clutching his leg in the latter stages of the champions’ 4-0 Premier League thrashing of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and was immediately substituted.Losing the Norwegian would be a major blow to ...
Rotherham manager Steve Evans described Thomas Parsons’ performance as “atrocious” after the referee awarded a stoppage-time penalty from which Reading snatched a 2-1 victory in League One.Reading had led 1-0 at half-time through top scorer Harvey Knibbs but Sam Nombe levelled for Rotherham from a spot-kick in the 57th minute.With the game heading for a draw, Parsons adjudged Mil...
Michael Flynn believes his team can make a charge towards the League Two play-offs places after watching them come from 2-0 down to beat Barrow 3-2 at home.Matty Taylor scored twice before fellow substitute Ashley Hay hit the winner as the Robins continued their perfect home record in 2025.Cheltenham climbed to 13th in the table and sit eight points off seventh-placed Crewe with two games in hand....
Birmingham manager Chris Davies praised Jay Stansfield’s work ethic after he lit up St Andrew’s with the only goal of a 1-0 win to sink play-off chasing Charlton.Stansfield’s 23rd-minute strike stretched City’s lead to nine points ahead of second-placed Wycombe, with Blues boasting a game in hand.Victory was City’s 30th in all competitions as they extended their unbea...
Andoni Iraola refused to get carried away after Bournemouth fans were left dreaming of a potential Champions League adventure following a first league double over south-coast rivals Southampton.Travelling Cherries fans chanted of playing in European football’s premier competition next season after their side soared to fifth spot in the Premier League table thanks to a deserved 3-1 success at...
Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup praised his side for fighting back to draw 1-1 at Hull after he demanded “I want to see my football team back”.The Norwich boss had some tough words for his team as they trailed 1-0 at half-time to the relegation-threatened side, including for Kellen Fisher – but the player then delivered the assist for Josh Sargent’s equaliser.The Un...
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says Jota has a chance of starting against Bayern Munich after scoring and impressing in a 3-0 victory over Dundee United.Jota earned the club’s man-of-the-match award after cutting in from the left and curling home from 18 yards to double the lead given to the hosts by another impressive finish from Callum McGregor.The Portuguese winger has now started two gam...
