And here is David Hytner’s match report! With that I’ll leave you – thanks for reading and take care.
Heeeere’s Jose:
It was good. We got through, we won the match like we wanted, no need for an emergency plan. We managed to play well for long periods. All four goals were beautiful goals.
[Dele] had a difficult period, he had an injury, it was the same period of talk talk talk about leaving or staying. The market closed, the injury’s gone and he started working with a lot of motivation. And he’s coming. He’s playing very, very well. Of course the goal was beautiful but for me the meaning of the assists, the hard work for the team, means more for me.
[Dane Scarlett] is a diamond. A kid with incredible potential. He’s still 16 and I believe next season he will be a first-team squad player.”
Eric Dier speaks:
Coming with a very good result from the first leg helped a lot. Today we started very well but let them back into the game a bit too much. In the second half we were in complete control and scored a few good goals.
I’m delighted for [Dele], fantastic goal. Step by step he’s getting back to his best and that goal was another glimpse of that. In football people have a short memory but he’s reminded everybody.”
Mourinho’s methods came up trumps, then! But in seriousness, that was fine from Spurs. The first half was a bit slow in places but they cut loose in the second and could have scored more. Alli’s performance, albeit against modest opposition, was such a plus – and what a goal from him!
Full-time: Spurs 4-0 Wolfsberg (8-1 on aggregate)
That’s ended up doing very nicely for Spurs and Mourinho: a stunning goal and two assists for Alli; two goals for Vinicius; a great finish from Bale. About what you’d want from the supporting cast.
90+1 min: Two added minutes to come.
89 min: Wolfsberger do play some nice football, as they are showing in midfield now, but there really is a time and a place.
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86 min: Scarlett is played in by Bale and his shot, off a defender, is helped wide by Kuttin. It was heading off target anyway. The corner is defended.
83 min: Spurs 4-0 Wolfsberg (Vinicius, 83)
Looks like I’m doing time then. Wolfsberg have possession under control but of course it’s *vital* to play the next pass sideways and start the 3535343-pass move that splits the Spurs defence and scores the perfect goal. Scarlett has no time for that, nipping in on the dithery Henriksson and allowing Vinicius to sweep in.
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82 min: Yes, John and Dane Scarlett come on for Alli – the man of the match, hands down – and Sissoko.
81 min: Another Spurs player will soon get his moment to remember, Nile John making his debut. Wolfsberg have brought on Rnic for Stratznig.
78 min: Bale now has six goals this season, five in the cups, and I must admit that surprised me. I swear though that if I see another team concede a goal by trying to build from the back like Man City or Barca 2010 when they manifestly aren’t capable of it I will do time. You don’t have to play like that!!
Alderweireld is furious for his own reasons, earning a yellow card for some fruity language.
75 min: Young defender Lavinier now makes his Spurs debut in place of Doherty.
“What’s going on with Doherty, then? asks Phillip Wainwright. “He looks way off the pace whenever I see him play. And he was so good for Wolves ...”
Goal! Spurs 3-0 Wolfsberg (Bale, 73)
Vintage Bale! Absolutely flashes a first-time finish in from 12 yards after Wolfsberg give the ball away and Alli feeds him in perfectly. That was a lovely strike. A goal and two assists for Alli; a goal for Bale. Not a bad night!
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71 min: Bale puts in a corner, but Vinicius is penalised for a foul. Will Spurs stick at two?
69 min: Bale and Moura get runouts, for Lamela and Bergwijn.
67 min: Alli tries for his second goal but Kuttin saves well after he breaks into the box on the left.
66 min: Ben Davies is the latest player to be booked.
65 min: Baumgartner is now replaced by Giorbelidze, while Peric is on for Scherzer. They’re 4-0 up on the subs front.
64 min: Lamela fizzes one across goal and Doherty is a whisker away from converting.
63 min: And another good opportunity for Joveljic, who is found in the box after a slick move and a dummy. But he scuffs straight at Hart. Wernitzig then picks up a booking.
61 min: Baumgartner goes through the back of Vinicius and is booked.
60 min: Easily Wolfsberg’s best chance, this, the watchable Liendl floating a lovely ball over to Joveljic only for the striker to nod wide. He should have hit the target.
59 min: Vinicius can’t quite flip a ball round the back for Alli. I wonder if we’ll see a Spurs sub or two soon. Bale?
56 min: Now Lamela can’t quite keep a shot down after Bergwijn does well. This second half is a bit livelier than the first so far.
55 min: A Spurs free-kick 25 yards out. And maybe a chance? Dier has a go at the right end but it hits the wall. Doherty retrieves the ball though and plays in Lamela, whose shot it blocked by Kuttin. From the corner, Lamela cuts inside and shoots and I think that’s going in ... but it glances over off a defender.
52 min: The Austrians respond and Dier, who was involved in the Dieng tussle, has to slice wide of his own goal. The corner comes to nothing.
Goal! Spurs 2-0 Wolfsberg (Vinicius, 50)
Wolfsberg aren’t happy after that earlier incident. But this is a good goal, set up by a beautifully weighted Alli ball to the far post. Vinicius just extends his neck and nods it in.
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49 min: Ooooh, Baumgartner plays it over the top and the striker Dieng goes down under pressure near the edge of the box ... but no foul!
48 min: Wolfsberg pass the ball around. They do have some neat players and a good shape.
Peeeep! Second half underway
Wolfsberg start it all off again.
Wolfsberg bring on Pavelic for Novak in defence, and Joveljic for Vizinger up front.
Skinfade Gascoigne informs me that a “Swedish mile” is 10km – “As I once learnt to my misfortune on a cycling holiday in the pouring rain still some distance from Gothenberg.”
Bill Hargreaves writes: “A Spurs Arsenal final would be fascinating, and might provide the only route into Europe next year for both teams! Arsenal might suffer the ignominy better than better than Spurs, them being in rebuild mode. Mou (or should I say Donald, as Matthew Syed in [The Times] has it José Mourinho has become the Donald Trump of football) would, I think, pick up his toys (cheque) and leave.”
Half-time reading: today’s Fiver!
Half-time: Spurs 1-0 Wolfsberg
That’s the half. Alli’s goal was the best moment by ... what’s bigger than a country mile? A continental mile?
44 min: Should be 2-0! Lamela plays Vinicius clear of the offside trap and he rounds Kuttin very nicely before rolling the ball towards the empty net ... only for Henriksson to slide in and clear heroically from off the line. Vinicius should probably have scored, mind you. Bergwijn has a shot beaten away by Kuttin shortly afterwards.
42 min: We’re in “tough watch” territory at the moment, although Doherty does well to dig out a cross that Vinicius heads over.
40 min: Thomas Niesenhaus writes in –
“I don’t want to be a pedant (well, yes - I do !) but ‘Wolfsberger AC’ actually means Wolfsberg’s AC. So ‘Wolfsberger’ is the genitive and ‘Wolfsberg’ the name of the town. So you would either refer to them as ‘Wolfsberg’ or ‘Wolfsberger AC’ but definitely not Wolfsberger. Just saying ...”
You won’t believe me but something along these lines has been lurking vaguely in the back of my mind. I think we’ve just abbreviated it for ease. But because we should be communing with Europe, rather than alienating it, I shall from hereon write Wolfsberg.
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36 min: Doherty is booked for a barge on Scherzer near halfway.
34 min: Now Wolfsberger have perhaps their best sight yet, Liendl sticking out a boot to try and guide the ball beyond Hart but seeing his effort saved low to the right.
33 min: Wolfsberger probe patiently but a cross from the left is headed away. Spurs, as on a few occasions, break at speed and the goalkeeper Kuttin hares about 20 yards out of his box to boot clear ahead of Alli.
31 min: This is pretty much the game we all probably expected, saved by the sheer delight of Alli’s goal.
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29 min: A Spurs v Arsenal Europa League final in Gdansk? Anyone fancy that?
26 min: Spurs have to clear a touch hurriedly after Wolfsberger attack well. Spurs break and Alli bends a delicious ball in front of Vinicius – who hardly busted a gut to reach it – using the outside of his boot.
23 min: It’s not a fast-paced game. You might have guessed that. There’s a touch of the friendly match about this, although Novak is pretty firm in blocking a Bergwijn shot in the box there.
21 min: A Scherzer cross-shot flies wide, Hart doing the decent thing and diving in concern, after a smart Wolfsberger move.
18 min: Hart claims a wayward long pass. Spurs are generally doing a good job of controlling this.
15 min: In a funny way that goal doesn’t change anything. There, I’ve said it. Wolfsberger still need four. To be fair, they continue to try and commit men forward.
13 min: Good, we have something to remember today by. That was such a fine goal out of nothing from Alli, who might just salvage his Spurs career if he keeps this up. Winks is less accurate when, from 30 yards, he attempts his own wondergoal.
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Goal! Spurs 1-0 Wolfsberger (Alli, 10)
Oh, what a goal from Alli! If his manager needs any convincing, here it is. He moves on possession quickly during a Spurs attack with a clever flick and then, seconds later, controls the ball with his studs as Doherty plays it into the box. It bounces up and, with his back to goal, he launches a sensational overhead kick into the corner from 12 yards! That is the highlight of his season so far, no danger.
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10 min: “Just to follow up on Peter Oh’s message about the Wolfsberg population plus guests, is that the ‘outdoor mixing with one other person’ that we’ve been hearing about?” asks Philip Hall. “Not really up to scratch on this because I live in France – where they socialise at will until 6pm.”
What is this “socialise”?
7 min: Wernitzig has the game’s first shot after a good spell of pressure from Wolfsberger, but shins over from 20 yards. Then Bergwijn cracks a low one well off target at the other end.
5 min: The visitors are pressing high, and eagerly. They haven’t come here to be tourists – that’s illegal anyway guys! – and perhaps they can catch Spurs unawares.
3 min: Spurs possession at the start, and a couple of sprayings out to the flanks. But there is little else to report. Wolfsberger would love to inject some interest by sneaking an early goal.
Peeeeeep! Away we go
It is ON, folks.
Mourinho has a chinwag with the away coach Ferdinand Feldhofer, who seems a very nice and smiley man.
The teams are out on the pitch – Mourinho’s turnaround is about to get underway!
Peter Oh stats you up: “Tottenham Hotspur Stadium’s capacity (approximately 60,000) is enough to comfortably hold the entire population of the town of Wolfsberg (about 25,000) plus guests. The Austrian team’s home ground only holds 7,000 or so, but they won’t be intimidated by the crowd roar today.”
Look, I won’t hear anyone say Wolfsberger are mugs. They actually caused a flutter or two in the first leg and could have made it 3-2 when they hit the underside of the bar. They’re fifth in the Austrian league and won 2-1 at Sturm Graz on Sunday.
Mourinho thinks the modern him can turn this Spurs ship around. Here’s David Hytner:
May I self-promote? No? Well I’m about to. Mourinho’s ideas may incontrovertibly be the best, but I came away from an hour with Marco Rose – who’s coached against Wolfsberger in his time so this link is relevant – thinking his were pretty darned good too. Interview:
Kieran McHugh requests:
“Could I ask you to give a shout out for the Ivor Cutler song Pellets? A rendition of which is surely maintained for the full 90 minutes by the Pellets faithful at every home match.”
I must explain: Wolfsberger’s full name is RZ Pellets WAC. Almost as catchy as the tune.
So that’s a strong Spurs team – not full fat but similar to the one that sailed through the first leg. The likes of Kane, Son and Bale are on the bench just in case things get hairy. So are a few kids, in case there’s scope for half an hour’s kickabout at the end.
Teams
Spurs: Hart, Doherty, Alderweireld, Dier, Davies, Sissoko, Winks, Lamela, Alli, Bergwijn, Vinicius. Subs: Lloris, Tanganga, Reguilon, Lavinier, Markanday, John, Ndombele, Bale, Moura, Kane, Son, Scarlett.
Wolfsberger: Kuttin, Henriksson, Lochoshvili, Baumgartner, Wernitznig, Stratznig, Scherzer, Novak, Vizinger, Liendl, Dieng. Subs: Giorbelidze, Peric, Pavelic, Joveljic, Rnic, Rocher, Skubl, Schofl, Taferner, Kofler.
Hello
Look, we’re all friends here so I wouldn’t sell you a pup – there is no jeopardy in this game. Wolfsberger will have to score at least four and win by at least three, because they are 4-1 down from their home leg. That is not going to happen, so we’re largely here to enjoy an appetiser to tonight’s games – and also to keep an eye on any intriguing subplots.
Make no mistake, there are some of those. The main one is that Spurs can’t really get away with dialling this in tonight, except strictly speaking in result terms. They need to start proving that Jose Mourinho’s methods are the best – as if any of us ever had any doubt! – and that, in whatever competition, they can string together a run of form. That hasn’t happened for a long time: they’ve lost five Premier League games in six and need to take their pick-me-ups where they can. A snoozefest, or worse, today would not help the prevailing mood.
What are you expecting? Is anyone on the entire planet better than Mourinho? Tell us via email or Twitter – and strap in for the next few hours’ entertainment.
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