Tottenham Hotspur fought back from behind to beat AZ Alkmaar at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday evening.
A brace from Wilson Odobert and James Maddison’s powerful strike proved to be the difference between the sides, despite AZ’s spiriting efforts and Peer Koopmeiners dragging them level.
Ange Postecoglou’s side will face Eintracht Frankfurt in the next round of the Europa League.
As it happened
‘To dare is to do’ is the motto of Spurs, seen in gigantic bold words outside of the stadium, and Ange Postecoglou’s team made sure that message was reciprocated on the night.
The hosts controlled the tempo in the early exchanges and earned some joy down the left-hand side, often giving Heung-Min Son the ball in dangerous areas to exploit forward.
Rome-Jayden Owusu-Odura was first tested on the 22nd minute; Son’s cross was whipped with pace into the area and the visitors’ number one did well to punch the effort clear.
Inevitably, Spurs opened the scoring on the 25th minute. After Wouter Goes made a mess of his clearance, it was Dominic Solanke who laid the ball off to Wilson Odobert for him to smash his effort into the top corner to level the game on aggregate.
The goal means that the Lilywhites have found the net in their last 30 home matches in the UEFA Europa League, which is the longest run in the competition’s history.
The momentum was in favour of the home side, Son remained to be a key factor in every Spurs attack and tested Owusu-Oduro once again ten minutes before the break.
The visitors had a chance of their own moments before the break as the ball fell perfectly into the path of Zico Buurmeester, but his effort failed to test Guglielmo Vicario.
It took Spurs two minutes of the second half to take the lead in the overall tie. James Maddison was in the heart of the attack and after a cute one-two with Son, he buried his attempt into the bottom corner.
Jordy Claise’s effort had AZ fans on the edge of their seats, his effort narrowly dragged wide of the target and sent warning signs to the home side.
A defensive miscue between Bergvall and Odobert presented Peer Koopmeiners with a golden opportunity in front of goal, and he made no mistake when he rifled the ball past Vicario.
Odobert got his second of the evening in the closing stages of the fixture, Solanke’s neat flick on found the 20-year-old free at the back post to stab the ball home from close-range.
The visitors still remained competitive however, after Vicario had palmed away Troy Parrot’s effort, Yves Bissouma made a vital block.
Substitute Mexx Meerdink should’ve levelled things up, but his header lifted over the crossbar from close-range.
It was not the prettiest performance, but Postecoglou’s team were persistent in their defensive duties and done enough to earn the three points. Despite the conversations surrounding Tottenham’s disappointing time in the Premier League, the performance showed there is still life within the team.
As it happened
TOT: Vicário; Spence, van de Ven, Romero, Porro; Maddison, Bergvall, Sarr; Son, Solanke, Odobert
AZ: Owusu-Oduro; Wolfe; Penetra, Goes, Maikuma; Clasie, Koopmeiners; Poku, Buurmeester, Sadiq; Parrott