UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE
(Matchday 2)
THURSDAY 3RD OCTOBER, 2024
(5.45pm UK time)
FERENCVAROS 1(0) TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2(1)

Ferencvaros scorer:-
B. Varga, 90

Spurs scorers:-
Sarr, 23
Johnson, 86

Attendance:- 20,795

Referee:- Igor Pajac
Assistants:- Ivan Mihalj & Vedran Ðurak
Fourth official:- Tihomir Pejin
V.A.R:- Mario Zebec
Assistant VAR:- Ivan Bebek
(All officials from Croatia)

Teams:-
Ferencvaros (4-2-3-1):- 90. Dibusz (Capt.); 3. Gartenmann (sub 25. Mazreckis,77), 27. Cisse, 34. Gustavo, 99. Ramirez; 15. Abu Fani (sub 8. Pesic, 84), 80. Maiga; 20. Traore (sub 10. Kady, 77), 11. Saldhanha (sub 16. Zachariassen, 60), 17. Civic (sub 7. Ben Romdhane, 60); 19. B. Varga

Subs not used:- 1. A. Varga (GK); 21. Botka, 22. Szalai; 64. Toth, 88. Rommens; 93. Misidjan, 30. Gruber

Booked:- Civic (foul on Moore - misses next game)

Spurs (4-3-3):- 1. Vicario; 23. Pedro Porro, 17. Romero (Capt.), 14. Gray, 33. Davies; 29. Sarr (sub 19. Solanke, 82), 8. Bissouma, 15. Bergvall (sub 21. Kulusevski, 65); 47. Moore, 42. Lankshear (sub 10. Maddison, 66), 16. Werner (sub 22. Johnson, 65)

Subs not used:- 20. Forster, 40. Austin; 37. Van de Ven, 48. Dorrington, 59. Cassanova; 30. Bentancur; 63. Ajayi

No bookings

High Fives for Tottenham!

Thanks to Eugene Gasper for this image

It had been raining for 24 hours in Budapest and rained throughout the game. The grass was not as short as most Premier League pitches (especially that at Tottenham) and conditions were difficult. Ange Postecoglou put his faith in youngsters such as Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Will Lankshear and 17-year-old Mikey Moore, and was rewarded with a 2-1 win and maximum points from our first two Europa League matches.

Only four players (Vicario, Pedro Porro, skipper Romero and Werner) who started at Old Trafford featured in our starting line-up tonight. Most of Spurs' play was directed down the right side where Moore caused the defence plenty of upset. Moore and Werner switched sides at half-time and Mikey will surely be challenging Werner for a starting place at The Amex. When he was fed the ball, Werner rarely utilised it, and he made a terrible hash of a chance given by Moore just before he was substituted.

Archie Gray played at centre-back in the first half but swapped with left back Ben Davies after the break.

Although this was not a comfortable win, Spurs could give themselves high fives at the end of the game. This was a fifth successive win, and substitute Brennan Johnson scored in all five of those games. It's just as well he did, because Ferencvaros's Barnabas Varga scored a late goal to make us twitch.

Spurs had never played Ferencvaros competitively and had never played in Hungary, but they became the first English team to beat "The Green Eagles" on their home soil for 55 years.

Spurs were missing the suspended Dragusin and their 11-man bench included untried players such as Dorrington, Cassanova and Ajayi. Mikey Moore and Will Lankshear were making their first starts. It was a senior debut for Lankshear.

Romero won the toss and turned us round so we were playing towards our fans in the first half, although the home side kicked off. Ferencvaros had early chances. Traore raced onto Abu Fani's long ball and passed inside to Varga, but his shot was off target. The home side had quite a few off target shots throughout the game. Vicario held a shot by Traore comfortably.

Spurs' early attacks included a low cross by Moore being cleared and Lankshear hitting the ball just over (with his shoulder) after a Werner cross.

Bissouma was impressive all night, gaining possession in the deep and often making powerful runs. He teed up Sarr with a short pass before Sarr struck from 20 yards and goalkeeper/captain Dibusz parried.

Ferencvaros had the ball in the net, but only half celebrated their "goal," correctly anticipating an offside decision, ratified by VAR. Civic had crossed from the left and both Traore and "scorer" Varga had been offside - Varga marginally so. Vicario soon pulled off a great save from a point blank effort by Varga, but again, there had been an offside.

Civic was shown the only yellow card of the night for his midfield foul on Mikey Moore. Having been under the cosh to some degree, Spurs took the lead when both Lankshear and Bergvall challenged inside the box for a clever Moore pass. The ball fell to Pape Sarr who fired home across the keeper. He's obviously been watching Johnson!

Spurs gathered their composure and won several corners. After one of these Romero headed down and Davies challenged. Pedro Porro hit the post with a left-footed shot. Pedro had picked himself up after a possible foul inside the box, but no penalty was awarded.

Traore hit another shot wide after Saldanha's pass inside. The Ferencvaros keeper was tested by a 28-yard effort by Archie Gray.

Spurs kicked off the second half, and having switched to left back, Gray embarked on a fine run from deep in his own half, only to be blocked when he reached the opposition box. Vicario made a fingertip save at the other end from a Saldanha shot.

The referee had to pause the game for a short while to allow the smoke from home-end flares to clear. Cisse conceded a somewhat cheap corner, after which a header by Romero was tipped over for another corner. Lankshear and Moore combined again to win a corner from the right. Lankshear hit a shot just over the bar after a Werner short corner and a cross by Pedro Porro.

Bissouma went on a steaming run and passed into the box to Lankshear who went down, but too easily for the referee's liking. Then came Werner's hash when set up by Moore. Timo was in a central position and should have taken his shot there and then but took the ball too far to the left and shot behind the goal from the angle he had created. That was his last piece of action. Bergvall (who I think struggled more than most with the surface) also went off, and Kulusevski came on with Johnson. "Deki" initially took on the central position, as Maddison replaced Lankshear.

Home sub Zachariassen headed over after a cross from the right. A Johnson cross was pushed over for a corner after which Ben Romdhane handled. Maddison took a short free kick and Kulusevski's shot was deflected for another corner.

Vicario made an easy save from Kady's effort. Johnson hit a shot off the top of the bar after another good run by Gray. A 25-yard shot by Maddison was easy for the keeper. Kady's header from a Varga cross was held by Vicario.

Spurs came under a little pressure at this stage, but we could breathe in after our lead was doubled. The goal followed a strong attack down the right channel with Bissouma, Moore, and Maddison involved. The ball broke to Johnson, who had Kulusevski moving to his right, but Brennan scored with a left-footed shot which rebounded into the net off the inside of the keeper's right post.

We had to worry again though as Varga scored with an outstretched right foot as he met Ramirez's cross from the left.

Spurs saw out the five added minutes, and while it wasn't a comfortable win, the players can reflect upon "job done". We can all look forward to the trip to Brighton on Sunday afternoon.

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