Tottenham have set up a Europa League quarter-final showdown against Eintracht Frankfurt after defeating AZ Alkmaar 3-1 on Thursday evening. Following last Sunday's 2-2 draw against Bournemouth, Ange Postecoglou made a total of four changes to his team as Micky van de Ven, Lucas Bergvall, James Maddison and Son Heung-min came in.
Unable to create any real chances in the opening exchanges, Spurs took the lead through Odobert on 26 minutes as he netted his first goal for the club. It all came from some expert pressing from Son to gain possession off Wouter Goes, with Dominic Solanke then putting the ball on a plate for his teammate to sweep home and level things up on aggregate.
Tottenham were then to take the lead in the tie shortly after half-time as Maddison netted his 11th goal of the season after some more excellent play from Odobert and Son to create the chance. In the driving seat to go through, Spurs were pegged back on aggregate after Peer Koopmeiners pulled one back for the visitors with an arrowed drive following a mix-up in defence.
Despite the setback, Spurs managed to restore their two-goal cushion on the night with a stunning team goal on 76 minutes as Odobert turned the ball home at the back post after they had played their way upfield from their own area. The winger's strike proved to be the decisive goal in the tie as the Lilywhites progressed with a 3-2 win on aggregate.
Here are five things we spotted in the game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:
Senior stars step up
After having to deal with a host of injuries over the course of the season, Tottenham's starting XI is now nearing full strength heading into the business end of the season. After getting some vital minutes in the tank against Bournemouth last weekend, both Cristian Romero and Van de Ven were named in the side after last playing together in the Chelsea defeat in early December.
Maddison and Son also came back in after dropping down to the bench last weekend. That meant Postecoglou could start with his leadership group of Guglielmo Vicario, Romero, Maddison and Son in his Tottenham XI for the first time since October's 4-1 home win over West Ham.
The four players did all feature in the defeat to Ipswich Town the following month but they were only on the pitch at the same time for the closing minutes after Maddison's late introduction. At a time when Spurs have needed their senior stars to help guide them through an extremely tough period, Postecoglou has unfortunately been unable to call upon them at the exact same time over the past five months.
Thankfully he could do for a such a crucial match, with the four players all stepping up to the plate with huge performances to help Tottenham advance. Maddison and Son were standout players for Tottenham on the night, with Romero and Vicario more than playing their part at the back.
It was an evening that highlighted the quartet's importance to making Postecoglou's team really tick.
Spence and Odobert's position in Postecoglou's thinking
Two of the big decisions facing Postecoglou ahead of the game involved who would get the nod at full-back and who would operate from right-wing. Djed Spence won his race with Destiny Udogie to start at left-back and Odobert was selected in Spurs' front three.
For Spence, this was only his second European start for Tottenham following his omission from the playing squad for the league phase. The ex-Nottingham Forest loanee has flourished since coming into the team and his starting berth against AZ very much highlights his position in Postecoglou's thinking and that he may now just have the edge of Udogie for his role in the team.
In terms of Odobert, Spurs fans are starting to see a lot more of the 20-year-old after such an injury-hit start to his Tottenham career. The Frenchman has now started three of his last four appearances for the Lilywhites, with the summer addition picked over Mathys Tel and Brennan Johnson on this occasion.
Like Spence, it just shows how highly Postecoglou rates him as he was selected for such a crucial match when the head coach had other strong options available to him. Odobert paid back the Australian's faith in him with the opening goal as he swept the ball high into the next after some excellent work from Son and Solanke.
He would then add the vital third goal in the final 15 minutes after capping off an eye-catching move forward involving all but two Spurs players. It was undoubtedly his biggest moment in a Tottenham shirt so far and it may well be a sign of things to come for the youngster with a permanent spot in the XI as they look for the perfect attacking formula.
Romero vs Parrott
Romero certainly made his presence known inside the first 20 minutes of Thursday's Europa League tie. Known for his big tackles, he produced one on the halfway line on David Moller Wolfe to come away with the ball.
It was timed to perfection and it resulted in a huge cheer from the Tottenham faithful as he then proceeded to move forward with it. Romero was involved in another moment not long after with his former Spurs teammate Troy Parrott.
Spence had nipped in to win the ball on the halfway line from the Republic of Ireland striker, who in turn went to ground. Romero wasn't having any of it and he immediately turned to Parrott when Spence was attacking with the ball and he screamed in the face of his opponent.
The World Cup winner is a very feisty character indeed and he is not afraid to get in the face of his opponents, even if they are former teammates of his.
That Van de Ven sub
Van de Ven would only be on the pitch for a total of 60 minutes as Archie Gray came on in his place. There certainly didn't appear to be an injury issue with the Dutchman and it very much looked to be Postecoglou managing the defender's minutes.
Given his stop-start season to date, the last thing Spurs want to do is push him too much and see him spend more time in the treatment room at the business end of the season. After getting 30 minutes last weekend against Bournemouth, the next step for Van de Ven was to play for an hour as they look to build his levels up.
Prior to making way, the 23-year-old showed everyone why he is rated so highly with some sublime defending to deny the speedy Ernest Poku just as the AZ attacker looked set to test Vicario. Three minutes after his exit and it was all level on aggregate as Koopmeiners took full advantage of some poor play to set up a tense finale. Thankfully Odobert stepped up to see Tottenham advance.
Postecoglou football at his best
Tottenham are going to find it extremely hard to score a better goal than Odobert's second against AZ on Thursday evening. In a rather precarious position with AZ levelling things up on aggregate, Spurs worked their way upfield from their own box and Odobert put the finishing touch to the classy move from close range.
Starting off with Romero playing the ball back to Vicario after receiving it off Porro, the goalkeeper then spread the ball to Gray, who in turn found Spence on the sideline, with Maddison expertly allowing the ball to run across him to lose his marker and advance forward. Linking up with Spence again before the full-back found Son down the flank, the Spurs captain ran towards the edge of the area before playing a reverse ball to the overlapping left-back.
Spence's ball across the box was then flicked on by Solanke, with Odobert there at the back post to tap the ball into the far corner of the net and spark wild scenes inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The goal was that good and Spurs fans will no doubt be watching it time and time again over the next 24 hours or so!
It was Postecoglou football at his very best and a goal good enough to win any game of football.
Spurs' season-defining game and the big Archie Gray question - click here to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham.