Europa League Ferencvaros

FERENCVAROS 1 (Varga, 90)
TOTTENHAM 2 (Sarr 23, Johnson 86)

TOMORROW’S Tottenham was on display when Ange Postecoglou gave four teenagers starts in a comfortable 2-1 win away at Hungarian team Ferencvaros tonight (Thursday) in the Europa League.

It proved to be an easy enough challenge for the chosen youngsters.

The impressive Mikey Moore, who holds the club record for the youngest Premier League appearance in Spurs colours, showed why he has, at just 17, been promoted to first-team duties.

Will Lankshear, 19, also put in a strong performance against the Hungarian champions, while Lucas Bergvall, 18, also wasn’t fazed by what was in front of him.

Goals from Pape Sarr and Brennan Johnson sealed the deal, with a late consolation for the home side having no bearing on the outcome.

Speaking after the game Postecoglou said: “It is not easy playing away, you saw the atmosphere here tonight, the conditions, and I made some changes to the team. With all these factors, the way the group prepared themselves was outstanding. It is not easy to win in Europe. The good performance is very pleasing.”

The Tottenham boss added the youthful complexion, which also included defender Archie Gray, 18, gave the victory added value. He said: “Mikey was outstanding for 90 minutes-plus in a European away fixture aged 17. And it’s great for us to have four teenagers in an away win. They all contributed.”

The seven switches from the victory at Old Trafford on Sunday did not immediately bed in, and it was Sarr who got Spurs settled with the opener after a disjointed 20 minutes.

Ferencvaros, with a noisy home crowd behind them, were fielding a settled side full of confidence, while Postecoglou gambled – but he did have the advantage of Gray, Moore and Lankshear having played together on their way up the youth ranks.

The home side began well and saw what looked like a nicely worked and well-deserved goal chalked off on 17 minutes – a fractional offside spotted only by VAR. Spurs then survived another scare when Guglielmo Vicario pulled off a point blank reaction save to keep the game goalless.

In the pouring rain, the north Londoners had to work hard with the conditions making things scrappier for both sides. Sarr’s goal on 23 settled things down and Spurs gained the upper hand.

On 33 minutes, Pedro Porro showed speed and perseverance – possibly too much of both for his own good. He skinned his marker, was tripped in the box, got back up, beat another player, and then curled a fabulous effort past the goalkeeper. It thumped against the far post as the visitors were denied a stunning second.

Ferencvaros’s boisterous support found one way to slow Spurs down: on 49 minutes the referee brought proceedings to a halt after flares filled the pitch with smoke.

The lively Matheus Saldanha, who had the habit of getting into nice spots but also of having no sense of direction when shooting, forced Vicario into a fine save early in the second half, but offered little genuine danger.

Confidence was in good supply, and while the lead was slim on the scoreboard, Spurs were dominant. Cristian Romero got a header on target that was tipped over the bar, while Lankshear hit a volley wide. The young forward also might have scored after Yves Bissouma got him in on goal but for an excellent tackle.

Moore, who had looked a level above those he was up against, split Ferencvaros open with a through ball for Timo Werner. The German failed to capitalise, shooting wide after being spooked by the advancing Denes Dibusz in goal.

The first-team cavalry came over the hill on 65 minutes to make things safe, with James Maddison entering the fray alongside Dejan Kulusevski and Johnson. And it was Johnson who secured the win after combining with Dominic Solanke and Maddison.

Ferencvaros: Dibusz, Gartenmann (Makreckis, 77), Cisse, Gustavo, Ramirez, Abu Fani (Pesic, 84), Maiga, Traore (Borges, 77), Saldanha (Zacharaissen, 60), Civic (Romdhane, 59), B. Varga
Substitutes not used: A. Varga, Botka, Szalai, Misidjan, Toth, Rommens, Gruber

Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Gray, Davies, Sarr (Solanke, 82), Bissouma, Bergvall (Kulusevski, 66), Moore, Lankshear (Maddison, 66), Werner (Johnson, 66)
Substitutes not used: Forster, Austin, Bentancur, van de Ven, Dorrington, Cassanova, Ajayi