The Independent

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou praised the intent of his team after they started their Europa League campaign with an impressive 3-0 home win over Qarabag despite being forced to play with 10 men for 83 minutes.

After kick-off was delayed due to the late arrival of Qarabag’s team bus, Radu Dragusin’s night lasted only seven minutes when he received a red card for a cynical pull on Juninho as Spurs’ last-man.

It failed to significantly knock Tottenham off their stride though, with Brennan Johnson able to score for a third successive match five minutes later before Pape Sarr doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 52nd minute.

Qarabag did regularly threaten and Tural Bayramov fired a spot-kick over after Sarr’s strike, which all but ended the visitors’ hopes and Dominic Solanke made it back-to-back goals with 22 minutes left to ensure Tottenham earned a third win in a row before Sunday’s trip to Manchester United.

Postecoglou said: “We want to be a team that tackles whatever challenge we have in a certain way.

“When you go down to 10-men invariable at times you can’t be as aggressive or keep the ball as much or play as fluently but for the most part the intent was there.

“The first goal comes from us pressing. We were pressing with 10-men and we win the ball high up, which is what we wanted to do and we ended up scoring a goal from it.

“I think for the most part the boys showed that intent. That’s the kind of team we want to be and whatever challenge we have before us, is to tackle it that way.”

Spurs boss Postecoglou was left with some late concerns after Son limped off in the 71st-minute before Archie Gray appeared in pain late on.

Johnson was also withdrawn at half-time after he continued his rich vein of form, but the Australian played down concerns.

“I haven’t spoke to him. He said he felt a bit tired, but I haven’t spoken to him or the medical team yet,” Postecoglou said of Son.

“Yeah Brennan’s fine. It was just tactical. I thought we would need Deki Kulusevski because the way the game is going, Deki is a like a hybrid midfielder and can also break out on that right wing. It was just a tactical switch, but Brennan is fine.”

On Gray, Postecoglou pointed out: “He didn’t stop running though so can’t be that bad.”

Solanke made it back-to-back goals with a slick finish in the 68th-minute after Son’s shot had been spilled and earned the praise of his manager after a selfless display in attack.

“He is getting there and probably played longer than I wanted for him to play tonight, just the circumstances of the game, but the one thing about him is he just keeps going,” Postecoglou reflected.

“Great for him to get another goal but his all-round performance was really strong.

“When you’re down to 10-men, you need your striker to be able to hold up the play and do some hard running, which I thought he did.”

Kick-off was delayed by 35 minutes after Qarabag only arrived a short while before the scheduled 8pm start and their manager Gurban Gurbanov revealed they had been stuck on the team bus for two-and-a-half hours.

Gurbanov said: “Imagine being caught in traffic for two-and-a-half hours? I don’t want to make excuses, but it shouldn’t have happened because we had to come by ourselves.

“We had no police to escort us and obviously it had a big impact on our footballers, but it doesn’t take anything away from our opponent. They were a good team.”

Tottenham Hotspur started their Europa League campaign with an impressive 3-0 home win over Qarabag despite playing 83 minutes with 10 men.

After kick-off was delayed due to the late arrival of Qarabag’s team bus, Radu Dragusin’s night lasted only seven minutes when he received a red card.

It failed to significantly knock Ange Postecoglou’s team off their stride though, with Brennan Johnson able to score for a third successive match five minutes later before Pape Sarr doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 52nd minute.

Qarabag did regularly threaten and Tural Bayramov fired a spot-kick over after Sarr’s strike, which all but ended the visitors’ hopes and Dominic Solanke made it back-to-back goals with 22 minutes left to ensure Tottenham earned a third win in a row before Sunday’s trip to Manchester United.

Spurs were back in Europe for the first time in 18 months, but kick-off was delayed due to “severe” local transport issues which meant the Qarabag team bus only arrived minutes before the scheduled 8pm start.

When play did finally start, Tottenham faced early problems when Dragusin was dismissed. The defender let the ball run across him and was dispossessed near the halfway by Juninho before he cynically pulled back the Qarabag forward to leave referee Willy Delajod with no choice but to send him off.

Teenage midfielder Lucas Bergvall was the unfortunate Tottenham player to make way for left-back Destiny Udogie but he had barely reached his seat by the time the hosts went ahead.

Sarr initiated the pressure on Qarabag’s back four before Solanke won possession from Julio Romao and played in Johnson, who provided a calm finish into the bottom corner.

It gave Tottenham a precious lead and continued Johnson’s rich vein of form since he deactivated his Instagram account following abuse after the home loss to Arsenal.

Postecoglou’s team dominated possession despite their numerical disadvantage but Qarabag, who were minutes away from knocking out Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16 last season, were able to regularly run through their two-man midfield.

After Bahlul Mustafazade ran through and fluffed his shot, Spurs threatened again when Johnson latched onto Archie Gray’s impressive ball but the in-form forward could only side-foot wide from 18 yards after he got past Qarabag goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski.

The half ended with a flurry of opportunities for the visitors. Juninho inexplicably side-footed wide from Elvin Jafarguliyev’s cross with only Guglielmo Vicario to beat, before the Italian slid in to deny the same player after he had tackled Ben Davies in an incident similar to Dragusin’s red card.

Dejan Kulusevski replaced Johnson and instantly had an impact with a fine run down the right able to force a corner, which created Tottenham’s second goal seven minutes into the second half.

Kochalski, under pressure from Davies, could only get a faint touch on Kulusevski’s corner and Sarr was on hand to volley home at the back post.

Spurs’ joy appeared short-lived three minutes later when Yves Bissouma caught Jafarguliyev inside the area but Bayramov drilled his penalty over.

There were further chances for Juninho, who fired straight at Vicario and sent another effort against the post from a narrow angle, before Tottenham wrapped up the points.

Sarr and Kulusevski combined to tee up Son Heung-min and while his curler was saved by Kochalski, Solanke was on hand to slide home for his first Europa League goal.

Son limped off minutes later in a rare sour note on a positive night for Tottenham.

Tottenham begin their Europa League campaign with a fixture against Azerbaijani champions Qarabag.

Ange Postecoglou’s side have had a mixed start to the Premier League season, but will hope for a deep European run as they look to end their long trophy drought.

The revamped Europa League will see each of the competition’s 36 entrants play eight fixture each as they look to secure a top-eight finish and progress directly into the Round of 16.

Those that finish between ninth and 24th will be forced to negotiate an extra play-off round, adding yet more fixtures to an already overloaded schedule.

Here’s everything you need to know:

Kick-off in north London has been delayed to 8:35pm due to “severe travel disruption” in the capital. Tonight’s visitors Qarabag were late arriving to the ground due to traffic, with kick-off pushed back as a result.

Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on TNT Sports 1, with coverage on the channel from 7pm BST. Subscribers can stream the action via discovery+.

If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.

Cristian Romero is suspended for Spurs, with Ange Postecoglou likely to rotate elsewhere. Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall get another chance to impress, while teenager Mikey Moore may also receive an opportunity with Wilson Odobert injured. Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon were left out of the Tottenham squad for this competition.

Tottenham XI: Vicario; Gray, Dragusin, Van de Ven, Davies; Bissouma, Sarr, Bergvall; Johnson, Solanke, Son

Tottenham win 1/6

Draw 41/5

Qarabag win 18/1

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Tottenham 3-1 Qarabag

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Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min has expressed his “love” for team-mate Rodrigo Bentancur, despite the Uruguay midfielder making an alleged racist remark about the South Korean over the summer.

The former Juventus player was charged last Thursday with an alleged misconduct breach by the Football Association in relation to a media interview.

In the clip, which emerged in June, the host of a Canal 10 show asked Bentancur to show the shirt of a Spurs player, with the 27-year-old allegedly replying: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”

While an apology from Bentancur was swiftly forthcoming, due to this being an “aggravated breach”, if an independent regulatory commission panel upholds the FA charge, he could be suspended for six to 12 domestic matches, the PA news agency understands.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s Europa League home tie against Qarabag, Son said: “At the moment, because of the FA process, I can’t say much about it.

“But I love Rodrigo, I love him. We’ve a lot of good memories, we started playing together when he joined (in January 2022).

“He knew. He apologised straight afterwards when we had holiday. I was at home. I didn’t even realise what was going on. He sent me a long message and you could feel it was coming from his heart.

“When we came back for pre-season, he felt really sorry and he almost cried when he apologised publicly and personally as well. He felt like he was really sorry. We are all human and all make mistakes and we learn from it.

“I love Rodrigo. I love him, I love him. He knows he made a mistake but I’ve no problem at all with him. We move on as a team-mate and friend and as a brother. We move on together.”

Son is one of only two players along with Ben Davies left at Tottenham from the squad which reached the Champions League final in 2019.

Defeat in Madrid to Liverpool extended the club’s trophy drought and it now stands at 16 years, but Son is determined to end the wait for silverware this season.

“Yeah, it’s a dream. There is no hiding this. That’s what we work for,” Son insisted.

“Obviously, we are looking for another big competition that everybody wants to win. It’s going to be tough, a tough competition, a lot of games and a lot of travelling, which makes it even harder.

“We’ve just got to be ready and take it seriously the competition, because it’s a massive competition.”

Son also reflected on his contract situation after he entered the final 12 months of his Tottenham deal.

Spurs hold the option to extend his terms by a further year and plan to activate it, PA understands, but Son added: “We haven’t talked (about) anything yet. It was very clear for me, I’m very focused for this season.

“At this age, every second is like a goal, especially this season, we are in a lot of competitions, it feels like I’m taking even more care about this. I’m just fully focused on this situation and this year.

“I just want to win something that everybody in this club and these players and all around deserves. That’s what I’m working for.

“In the future, you never know what’s going to happen, but I will make sure I give everything for this club. It’s almost 10 years that I give everything. We’ll see what happens.”

Son also talked up 17-year-old Mikey Moore, who is expected to get more minutes on Thursday night.

“If I can help him a little bit with advice, then I’m always open to it,” Son revealed.

“I enjoy talking to him. He’s a fantastic boy and then I’m definitely sure that he can be a fantastic player. There’s no doubt because he has such amazing quality.”

Tottenham playmaker James Maddison hopes his goal against Brentford “shuts up a few people”, but reiterated it is all about the team after Saturday’s 3-1 victory.

Maddison crowned a superb display with a fine chipped effort in the 85th minute to clinch the points after first-half efforts by Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson cancelled out Bryan Mbeumo’s 22-second opener.

The 27-year-old Maddison started the campaign with back-to-back assists but faced criticism following last weekend’s defeat to Arsenal and responded with his first goal since March.

“The team is always the most important. I would have been happy with my performance and how I played regardless of whether I got the goal,” Maddison reflected.

“It obviously helped us in the game because we got that little cushion. It kind of shuts up a few people in the background who think the goals and assists do matter more than what they probably do.

“I am an attacking player who has always scored goals and always got assists, that’s my job.

“So when you are not doing that and even if you feel like you are playing well personally, helping the team, the gaffer is happy with what I’m doing, for some games you have it where I feel like I play really well in the build-up and help the team progress but you don’t get a goal or assist to show for that.

“And then people start questioning the numbers, so sometimes you have to take the outside noise with a pinch of salt, but on the other hand I love scoring goals and it was a nice feeling.

“I think I had to blow the dust off the old darts celebration because it has been a little while, but it felt so good in front of the South Stand to score.”

Maddison’s late clincher ended a run of 16 matches without a goal and followed a crucial cameo off the bench at Coventry on Wednesday.

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou watched his substitutes score plenty of times last season and the feat was repeated in midweek to earn Carabao Cup progress.

England international Maddison told SpursPlay: “The gaffer says it constantly that we’re a team and it’s not about whoever scores.

“He used an analogy the other day which I thought was brilliant at Coventry. It’s like he makes changes, but it’s just handing on the baton. They go on or we come on and have an impact like the subs did.

“It’s important that people realise it’s not just about the goals, it’s sometimes (the job) for the team.

“Hopefully the fans enjoyed today and watched what we did. And that’s all because of the structure that comes from the gaffer.”

It was a case of deja vu for Brentford and Thomas Frank after they scored again after 22 seconds like at Manchester City last weekend.

“That’s another positive thing,” Frank acknowledged.

“We work on the kick-offs and some of it is how we position ourselves on the second balls and what we do after that.

“So, very pleased with that.”

Postecoglou will feel some pressure lifted off his shoulders as Tottenham get their Premier League campaign back on track with an impressive 3-1 come-from-behind win against Brentford at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Mbeumo handed the visitors a blistering start when he volleyed in the opener with only one minute on the clock, but Spurs recovered quickly as Solanke found his first goal for the club in the eighth minute. They didn't have to wait long to take the lead through Johnson, who was also on target in their midweek EFL Cup win against Coventry. Brentford threatened to restore parity towards the end of the first half and at the start of the second, but a Maddison goal at the end of a Spurs break in the 85th minute secured the three points for the home side in an action-filled London derby. Spurs ended the game with only 47.8% possession, but they dominated the game in all other aspects, generating an xG of 3.51 and attempting an incredible 23 shots in 90 minutes, of which 10 were on target. Brentford, meanwhile, only had an xG of 0.58 and would be disappointed not to have found an equaliser after firing six shots -- all of which were on target. Postecoglou's side climb up to 10th place with their second win of the season while the Bees sit in 12th position. Tottenham will next be in action against Qarabag in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday before a meeting with Manchester United on Sunday. Brentford, meanwhile, welcome West Ham in their next Premier League outing. Thanks for tuning in to this live coverage and see you all again very soon.

Late goals by Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson helped Tottenham avoid an almighty upset at Coventry City in the Carabao Cup.

Spurs were set to follow up Sunday’s painful derby defeat to Arsenal with a 1-0 loss in the third round after Brandon Thomas-Asante fired the Championship side into a deserved lead after 63 minutes.

Moments earlier, Ange Postecoglou’s decision to substitute Lucas Bergvall had been met with boos from the away end.

However, with time running out and Postecoglou’s bold prediction last weekend of always winning silverware in his second season being set to come back to bite him, Djed Spence found an equaliser with three minutes left.

Spot-kicks were still on the cards until Rodrigo Bentancur played through Brennan Johnson, who chipped home in the 92nd minute to earn Tottenham a precious 2-1 win and leave their travelling support singing about Wembley.

This was the first meeting between the clubs in 11 years, but it was a fixture synonymous with the 1987 FA Cup final when Coventry triumphed 3-2 to clinch the only major trophy of their history.

Postecoglou was eager to deliver silverware for Spurs, but made eight changes from Sunday’s north London derby loss.

Fraser Forster was recalled for his first start in more than 12 months and almost gave away a goal inside 60 seconds, but atoned for a poor pass out from the back with a fine save to deny Jack Rudoni from 20 yards.

When Tottenham did eventually settle, they were forced into a 17th-minute substitution when Wilson Odobert went down after a strong challenge from Jake Bidwell.

Johnson was sent on and while the visitors continued to dominate possession, they could not fashion any chances and almost conceded again during an end-to-end 38th minute.

Firstly, Rudoni’s shot from Bidwell’s cross was blocked by Destiny Udogie and Johnson led the Spurs counter-attack but his cutback failed to pick out a team-mate, which resulted in Norman Bassette being sent away only to fire over.

After no first-half shots and a smattering of boos from the away crowd, Postecoglou sent on full-back Spence and two minutes later they did register an effort of note.

Dominic Solanke carried the ball and found Johnson, but his low effort was blocked by ex-Tottenham youngster Luis Binks.

It was not a sign of things to come as after Timo Werner was again dispossessed, Bassette tested Forster with a low strike.

The 24,606-strong crowd could smell blood and wanted a penalty after 56 minutes when Bidwell raced onto Ben Wilson’s pass and collided with Forster, but play continued and Spurs’ stand-in captain Ben Davies slid in to deny Haji Wright’s goalbound effort.

Thomas-Asante lifted over shortly afterwards before Postecoglou’s night went from bad to worse as his decision to bring off the lively Bergvall sparked boos.

Seconds later and the home faithful were on their feet in celebration after Bassette produced a superb cross for Thomas-Asante to slot past Forster.

No immediate reaction was evident as Ellis Simms headed wide soon after for Coventry.

James Maddison did go close in the 77th minute when he controlled Radu Dragusin’s long-range pass but curled wide from range before Ephron Mason-Clark failed to sufficiently connect with Simms’ deflected shot.

As Postecoglou was facing up to a second consecutive early exit in this competition, his blushes were spared when Dejan Kulusevski linked up with Spence, who prodded home for his first Spurs goal.

With three minutes left, Tottenham sensed their moment and in the second minute of stoppage time Bentancur played in Johnson, who rolled the ball past Wilson to ensure the full-time whistle was greeted with chants of ‘Wembley’ from Tottenham’s travelling support.

PA

Ange Postecoglou has insisted that he “always wins” trophies in his second season at a club as he struck an optimistic tone despite a slow start to Tottenham’s season.

Derby defeat to Arsenal was Spurs’ second defeat in their first four Premier League games, while Postecoglou’s side also suffered an opening weekend set-back in a draw with Leicester.

The hosts controlled much of the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but could not breach Arsenal’s defence, while familiar failings at set pieces again proved costly in a 1-0 loss.

But citing his recent record of having led Yokohama F Marinos and Celtic to league titles in his second year at the clubs, Postecoglou was clear that Spurs fans can expect silverware this season.

“I’ll correct myself - I don’t usually win things, I always win things in my second year,” the Australian said when asked by Sky Sports about a preseason interview in which he said he “usually” wins things in his second season.

“Nothing’s changed. I’ve said it now. I don’t say things unless I believe them.”

Postecoglou steered Spurs to a fifth-placed finish in his first season at the club. It is 16 years since Tottenham last secured a trophy, the 2008 League Cup.

Arsenal defender Gabriel headed home the only goal of the game on Sunday having been left unmarked after Bukayo Saka’s inswinging corner.

It was the 18th league goal that Spurs have conceded from set-pieces since the start of last season, a tally exceeded only by Nottingham Forest.

But Postecoglou insists that his side work on defending corners and free kicks “all the time”.

“I know, for some reason people think I don’t care about set pieces, and it’s a narrative that you can keep going on for ages and ages,” the Spurs boss said.

“I understand that, like I said, we work on them all the time, like we do with every other team, you know that [Arsenal] are a threat. For the most part we handled them really well today, but we switched off for one.

“It’s my burden to carry mate, and I’m happy to do that. Like I’ve always said, for me there’s a bigger picture, there’s a play here that’s much more important than the finer details of us getting to where we want to.”

A north London derby so predictable that, well, it could have been a set piece. You could see everything lined up, right down to Ange Postecoglou’s complaints about a “narrative” after a 1-0 defeat. Tottenham Hotspur played a lot of attacking football but did little with it; Arsenal defended superbly before a set piece settled the game.

Even the manner of the goal was as rudimentary as you could get, Bukayo Saka swinging in a delivery that Postecoglou himself called “spot on” and Gabriel heading in unchallenged from close range. Arteta beamed afterwards with the satisfaction of a plan that had come together, especially after so much disruption. He even spoke of changing that idea so many times, but it helps when you can be so sure of other key elements.

While Postecoglou wearily answered questions about Spurs’ set-piece frailties while insisting he “doesn’t care” about how this perception has grown – something he himself has fostered – Arteta was lauding the work of Nicolas Jover as “the best in his field, the best in any field”. Arsenal's set-piece coach, appointed in 2021, has been crucial in helping the team develop this hugely dangerous weapon in their attack. Gabriel’s goal made it 42 from such scenarios in three years, the most of any team in Europe’s top five leagues. The preparation is so good that players can visualise these moments and see them manifest.

All of this was ironically a vision that materialised from a set of circumstances that could well have led to a very different version of this game. Without their first-choice midfield, and after the way the Brighton 1-1 draw had played out, it was easy to see Arsenal dropping more points to fall five behind Manchester City. A good old-fashioned crisis could have set in. Instead, that is what Spurs are facing because Arsenal stood up in so many ways, especially defensively. That was witnessed so directly in the match-winning goal. Cristian Romero lost Gabriel, who rose to head in a beautifully flighted corner from a few yards out.

It was all so easy, albeit thanks to that hard work but also granite-hard players. That’s what Arteta has turned this team into, even if an element of imagination was missing without Martin Odegaard. The manager spoke afterwards about players who “are hard, have a thick skin” and who were only “hungrier and hungrier” to play when they kept getting bad news about absences during the week.

Spurs never looked like getting into Arsenal’s area so easily, after the energy from an admittedly impressive early burst dissipated. Even then, William Saliba made one brilliant challenge to completely consume Dejan Kulusevski’s space. It was to be a sign of what was to come. Any time Spurs got close to the Arsenal area, on the occasions when they didn’t make poor attacking decisions, one of Arteta’s defensive players was there to shut it down.

This was the major difference between the teams. As one prominent Spurs figure lamented at half time, Arsenal looked like they knew exactly what they were about. The gameplan and instructions were so clear, even if necessarily simplified. Part of that was down to the opposition.

It’s brutal but, at this point, everyone in the Premier League knows what you’re getting with Spurs. Opportunities at set pieces are certainly among them.

So, while Arsenal became so confident close to their own goal, Postecoglou’s players seemed to panic in the same area. There were so many inexplicable decisions. Virtually every player was responsible for at least one, usually in the form of a bad pass, wrong option or poorly-hit cross. The last example was almost a theme of the game. The home crowd became so anxious about the refusal to shoot that they were soon imploring the players to do exactly that. It was summed up when, for one rare moment, the box opened up for Dominic Solanke, only for the forward to dummy it. Spurs’ main idea seemed to be to get it wide and try something hopeful, which was so easy for Saliba and Gabriel to clear away. Jurrien Timber stood out in terms of his physical presence, too, even if Spurs felt that eventually extended into a foul on Pedro Porro that could have been a red card. Arsenal just looked more commanding.

There is a bigger point there, to go with how Arteta has increased both the physicality and quality of this team. Spurs, by contrast, have leant further into buying mere potential. The wage bill remains so low, relative to rivals as well as the club’s revenue.

That has proven a promising model in football for most of the last decade and has broadly worked for Spurs in transforming them from an inconsistent mid-table club into one that is regularly around the Champions League places. The true difference is still revealed in games like this, though. Spurs were playing against a defence that might just be the best in Europe right now. You couldn’t say their attack is anything close to that level.

Arteta added that, with the absences, he wasn’t going to get into the sort of open game that Postecoglou’s Spurs can be so good at. They weren’t here. So many Tottenham crosses went nowhere. Even Son Heung-min, for so long one of the best performers on the planet, has been off it for some time. There just wasn’t that sense of danger here.

Spurs are left with familiar questions. Arsenal are able to celebrate familiar qualities.