It wasn’t the cleanest of games from Tottenham Hotspur but the side prevailed in week three of the Europa League campaign with a 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar on Wednesday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Taking on the Eredivisie side, Spurs welcomed back one of its own in Troy Parrott with the striker making a permanent move to the Dutch side and doing well in his first season.
As Ange Postecoglou made eight changes from the weekend’s victory over West Ham, the team looked sluggish in the first half with the side not putting together particularly the best patterns of play.
Rotating in a lot of players that don’t get necessarily start a week-in-week-out basis, Spurs had to do a lot more work in the first half to get up to speed with what fans are accustomed to seeing in Postecoglou’s side.
Playing the younger kids in Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, and Mikey Moore in all three phases of the pitch, the trio had strong moments in the game to keep AZ Alkmaar away from causing much trouble.
The brightest moment in the first half came from a Timo Werner cross from the left wing to the back post for Moore. Trying to time his run and the header, Moore missed with the front of his head and had it glance off the right half of his head and out of play.
Although the offensive half of the pitch wasn’t putting together stellar plays, Fraser Forster in net kept the team in it with a great save off a corner and another as he came off his line to the top of the 18-yard box to keep AZ out of a great chance.
As neither side could get a goal in the first half, Spurs made a halftime change with Brennan Johnson coming on for Werner and Moore moving to his more accustomed left-wing role.
Getting to his spot, Moore dominated the early minutes of the second half on the wing as he dribbled past several Alkmaar defenders and added flair into his showing of a tremendous talent he is.
Spurs got the best chance in the game by way of a penalty.
Rodrigo Bentancur sent a lovely over-the-top ball to the top of the box with James Maddison taking the ball down quickly. With the ball controlled and Bergvall next to him looking for a first-time strike, the Swedish teenager was taken out on his attempt from behind with the ref pointing to the spot.
Maddison had to pry the ball out of the hands of Richarlison in the beginning with the Brazilian looking to get back into the scorers sheet after an injury-riddled start to his season. Taking a moment for the pen to stick, Maddison gave the ball to Richarlison and the Brazilian converted the chance as he sent the keeper the wrong way for a dink down the middle.
Spurs had chances throughout the second half to extend their lead but failed to do so and left Alkmaar with chances to possibly sneak out of North London with a point.
But, Spurs’ backline and Forster stood tall with crashing challenges, crucial blocks, and saves in and around the box.
Getting all three points, Spurs reside as one of three clubs — Anderlecht and Lazio — to be a perfect 9/9 in this new Europa League format.
Tottenham are back in action on Sunday with an away fixture against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Part.