Premier League International Cup 2018-19
    Lamex Stadium, Broadhall Way, Stevenage
       Tuesday 26th February 2019, 7pm

           SPURS      v     D. ZAGREB
        (White/Blue)       (All Yellow)
          4-1-4-1             4-5-1

            0(0)               1(0)

      Brandon Austin  1  Dinko Horkas
Brooklyn Lyons-Foster 2  Tomislav Barisic
         Tariq Hinds  3  Jakov Gogic
        Harvey White  4  Bartol Franjic
   Japhet Tanganga(C) 5  Josip Calusic(C)
       Timothy Eyoma  6  Josip Sutalo
Tashan Oakley-Boothe  7  Antonio Marin
    Armando Shashoua  8  Marko Gjira
          Jack Roles  9  Leon Sipos
       Paris Maghoma 10  Mario Cuze
       Shilow Tracey 11  Damian Kadzior

        George Marsh 12  Lovro Juric
           (2)76Mins
       Thomas Glover 13  Trojan Maloku
        Dylan Duncan 14  Tom Alen Tolic
        Rayan Clarke 15  Petar Cuic
           (9)74Mins     (11)84Mins
    Jonathan Dinzeyi 16  Filip Jovicevic
           (6)46Mins     (7)90+1Mins.
                     17  Matija Fintic
                     18  Roko Baturina
                         (9)73Mins

Scorer:-
                         Cuze 62

Booked:-
                         Gijia 44(Foul)
                         Cuze 60(Dissent)

Sent Off:-
        Tracey 90+1      Calusic 90+1

Coach:-
       Wayne Burnett     Igor Jovicevic

Attendance:- 438

Referee:– Will Finnie
Assistants:– Karl Sear & Aaron Farmer
Fourth Official:– Daniel Simpson

It was a chilly evening for the quarter-final match against Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb. Spurs have connections with Dinamo as that is where Modric, Corluka and Kranjcar began their careers. Spurs qualified for the quarter-finals by winning group C, while Dinamo finished second in group A. Dinamo have lost only once in their last nine games while Spurs' record has been poor.

Spurs lined up with Austin in goal behind Tanganga and Eyoma with Lyons-Foster at right back and Hinds on the left. White anchored the midfield with Shashoua and Maghoma ahead of him. They were flanked by Oakley-Boothe on the right and Tracey on the left in support of Roles playing as a false nine. With the important game against Chelsea on Friday it was a short bench that saw the inclusion of Dinzeyi as Eyoma had strappings on his left knee.

Spurs kicked off attacking the South end but found the Zagreb defence a very solid unit that they could not break down. The visitors pressed well in midfield to win the ball and start attacks themselves which saw Austin having to save a header by Calusic from a free kick. The Spurs stopper also saved a free kick by Kadzior at his near post. The best that Spurs could muster was an effort by Shashoua that flew over the bar.

Marin, who was playing on the left, was played in at the far post but was wide, hitting the ball with his right foot. Gjira was booked when Roles got the better of him runing through the middle but nothing came from the free kick.

Spurs made one change for the second half with Dinzeyi replacing Eyoma at the back. Dinamo continued to have the better of the play with Sutalo firing wide following a corner before Austin saved a powerful drive by Marin. Cuze was booked for dissent as some things did not go his way. Austin turned another stinging drive by Marin for a corner from which Calusic headed wide.

The visitors' pressure finally told when a cross by Kadzior from the left was deflected to Cuze on the right to fire past Austin. Spurs responded with Oakley-Boothe crossing from the right for Maghoma to fire over. Spurs made two changes in quick succession with Clarke replacing Roles to allow Tracey to go up front and Marsh coming on for Lyons-Foster to sit in front of a back three.

With the visitors looking to see out the game Spurs finally stirred themselves into action. A good free kick by White over the wall was tipped over by Horkas. From the corner Tanganga headed wide across the goal from the back post. Tanganga hit a long range effort over before Gjira fired over for Dinamo.

Oakley-Boothe had another cross from the right which saw the header by Tracey tipped over the bar by Horkas for a corner. When nothing came from that corner there was a confrontation between Tracey and Calusic in the corner which saw both players receiving red cards. The Croatians saw out the rest of added time to progress to the semi-final and join Reading who knocked out Manchester United the day before.

Spurs did not get going in this match against a well organised Dinamo side, until the end when they had to go for it. Too many missing players meant that the slick passing game to break them down was not there. Spurs now have to pick themselves up for the important game on Friday against Chelsea as they are just above the drop zone. Last season Spurs were in the same predicament but put together wins against Chelsea and Arsenal to finish safe. Another win over Chelsea would help again.

Ray

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