Dane Scarlett is a striker who spent the first part of the season on loan at Oxford United. Now he can’t go anywhere...
Radu Dragusin has gone down clutching his knee … he’s coming off for treatment. This would be a disaster for Spurs considering van de Ven is off and Cristian Romero is still out injured.
No, he’s going back on ... and now he’s sitting down. It looks like he’s going to have to come off. The sub is going to be subbed off.
When it rains, it absolutely pours for Spurs. My goodness. Looks like Dane Scarlett is coming on to replace him.
It was a fairly innocuous incident, too, twisting his knee as he played the ball.
Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 IF Elfsborg, 66 minutes
Spurs pick up right where they left off with a corner after barely a minute of play in the second half - nothing comes of it.
Will be interesting to see how their attacking patterns shift with the removal of Son, who was excellent, but is clearly being managed (like Van de Ven and Bentancur) ahead of their next Premier League match at 1am on Monday (AEDT) away to Brentford.
Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 IF Elfsborg, 51 minutes
That’s the end of the first half.
Spurs have been totally dominant and look really good in general play - but Elfsborg’s bodies behind the ball have made it difficult for them to craft many good chances. And the ones they have crafted have been blocked, generally speaking.
It’s worth noting that the current score, as things stand, would be a mutually agreeable outcome; Spurs would stay in the top eight while Elfsborg would go through to the play-offs. But that could change depending on other results in the tournament.
One of Tottenham’s biggest problems this season - before the injury crisis - has been their inability to take advantage of dominant spells like the one they’re enjoying right now. Too often they’ve been wasteful in front of goal and when the inevitable surge occurs in the other direction, they capitulate, and then once behind on the scoreboard, they begin to panic.
I’m not sure that will happen here, since Elfsborg are really under the kosh, but for their fortunes to improve they really need to be better in that final third and turn these sort of moments into the only currency that matters in football. Goals.
Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 IF Elfsborg, 30 minutes