Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Elfsborg (Scarlett 70’, Ajayi 84’, Moore 90+4)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – After a week of Tottenham toxicity, remarkably Ange Postecoglou has not lost any of his sense of humour.
Having watched Radu Dragusin twist his knee just 20 minutes after coming on as a substitute for Micky van de Ven, Postecoglou kicked a stray ball heading for his dugout, before feeling his hamstring with a chuckle towards the bench.
The injury list has indeed felt laughable at times, and yet here was a glimmer of hope as another setback gave way to a flurry of goals from three of Spurs’ brightest academy prospects.
Off went Dragusin and on came Dane Scarlett, only recalled from his loan at Oxford United when Dominic Solanke was ruled out for up to six weeks.
A breakthrough for the striker has sometimes felt off limits; now 20, Scarlett has made senior appearances in four of the last five seasons under three different managers, following closely behind Troy Parrott who is now starring in the Netherlands. This time, might it be different?
It took one Scarlett header, a brilliant finish from debutant Damola Ajayi, and a mazy run from Mikey Moore to offer a blueprint for how the Europa League ought to be used. They will hope Postecoglou’s job is not in too much jeopardy so that he can afford to keep giving them opportunities.
There is now every reason to as all three shared in their own slices of history. Jimmy Greaves’ record as the youngest Englishman to score in a major European competition (17 years, 245 days at Chelsea) had stood since 1957 until Moore (17 years, 172 days) struck in injury time.
Ajayi, who turned 19 just after Christmas, brushed off a Harry Kane milestone, becoming the youngest substitute to score for Spurs in Europe in over 13 years.
In fact it is the first time any English club have had three goalscorers under 21 in Europe since 2007, when Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner were on the scoresheet for Arsenal in a 7-0 win over Slavia Prague.
On these nights under the lights in the all-white kit, with Postecoglou purring about a victory “made in Tottenham”, there endures a special heritage from the old White Hart Lane. And still, they come at a heavy price.
Dragusin’s withdrawal felt a cruel irony in a match where some bookmakers were offering odds at how long Van de Ven would last on his latest return from injury.
The Dutchman got his 45 minutes, as expected, but it was a gamble to throw him in, just as it remains a risk to continue to pick such strong XIs in Europe.
Aside from Dejan Kulusevski and Yves Bissouma, who started on the bench, this was about the best hand Postecoglou could have played. While Van de Ven is back unscathed, the feel-good factor will take a little while to follow, so deep have been the cuts of the last seven weeks in his absence.
With Spurs through to the knockouts, there is now a serious call to be made. This is a squad close to breaking point, regardless of whether any late business – such as a £60m deal for Bayern Munich target Mathys Tel – can be done.
The youngsters have done all they can do. If they are not ready to take Spurs all the way in this competition, is a half-exhausted depleted crop of their walking-wounded senior players?
How they could have done with a winter break like Elfsborg, who have not played a league match since Christmas. A February play-off would have been the worst possible outcome, so it is a great mercy that Spurs clinched a top-eight finish.
Essentially, Postecoglou has been juggling a double-edged sword. This cup has added to the workload of his beleaguered players. At the same time, there has not been all that much choice.
He can take heart from the trio who excelled from the bench, and from his other 18-year-olds Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall. The latter eventually settled after a hyperactive first half in which he was a little too desperate to impress the Yellow Wall of away supporters from back home.
Rio Kyerematen, Will Lankshear, Malachi Hardy, Dante Cassanova and Callum Olusesi – a close friend of Moore’s – were also named on the bench.
That will only strengthen Postecoglou’s argument that the crisis engulfing Spurs has only ever been about injuries. Van de Ven, for example, transformed the defence on his comeback, thwarting every counter and muscling Jalal Abdullai off the ball, to rapturous applause from around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The “We want Levy out” chants have not gone away, though – it even sounded for a moment as if the Elfsborg supporters were joining in, their goalkeeper Isak Petterson’s chant bobbing along to the same tune.
The heat is off Postecoglou for a few days but eyes will remain on the chairman as the transfer window winds down. This is still not a squad that can afford to find out exactly how far it can be stretched. Should Postecoglou opt to rest his key men going forward, at least Scarlett, Ajayi and Moore have given him three reasons to feel optimistic.