Spurs Eventually Ease Past Slovenian Minnows NS Mura After Bringing on the Big Guns

Thursday 30th September 2021

Match Report

Tottenham Hotspur 5 – 1 NS Mura

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

Competition: Europa Conference League Group G

It ended up being the comfortable evening it was originally shaping out to be for Spurs when they flew into a two goal lead inside the opening ten minutes. Mura pulled one back at the start of the second half that suddenly threw that into doubt, but after calling on the big names off the bench the game was soon put to bed, with Harry Kane bagging himself a second half hat-trick.

As expected, plenty of fringe players were given a chance to show what they could do – Gollini started in goal as he has in all of the matches in this competition so far, the definitely doubted Doherty was there at right back, it was good to see big money signing Romero pairing up with promising Welshman Rodon in the centre of defence, Reguilón completed the back four where many would have expected to see Ben Davies, Dele, Skipp and Winks made up a midfield trio, Lo Celso and Gil were the wide men and between them was seventeen year old academy graduate Dane Scarlett who was handed his first professional start.

Spurs made a breakthrough after just two and half minutes – Lo Celso played it into the feet of Scarlett, a tackle on him knocked the ball into the penalty area where Dele pounced on it, the keeper rushed out to snatch the chance away but brought down a jumping Dele and the referee pointed to the spot – Penalty.

Dele stepped up confidently and put the penalty into the bottom right corner. 1-0 Spurs. A perfect start to what could have quickly turned into a nervy encounter.

8' Moments later Lo Celso made it two – A Mura clearance fell to Winks on the left side, who chested it down before dinking it forward into Lo Celso on the edge of the area, the Argentine knocked the ball into his stride using his thigh, darted down the left side of the area past a struggling Mura defender, then from a tight angle whipped it left footed across the goalkeeper high into the right side of the net. 2-0 Spurs within ten minutes.

The two early goals dampened any early buzz in the stadium and Tottenham stroked the ball around the field for the following twenty minutes with the odd solo "Come on you Spurs!" echoing out as if yelled in a big empty cave.

30' Reguilón fancied his chances of getting in on the goals – Having picked up the ball around ten yards outside the left of the penalty area, he took a touch to set himself before striking goalwards. It failed to trouble the keeper though as it sailed over the bar.

38' Then Skipp almost grabbed one – He worked his way down the right side of the area and with the space continuing to open up before him he eventually found himself in a shooting position. He lashed a right footed shot across goal but it was just wide of the far post. Would've been nice to see him on the scoresheet.

Another player fans would have loved to have seen score was Scarlett, and just before the break he did excellently to allow a ball to pass through his legs as he turned to race past the defender his dummy had fooled behind him. He went on bearing in on goal but a centre back came across to intercept with a well timed sliding challenge. That's how it's been for Scarlett in a Spurs shirt so far – we've seen glimpses that there's something there, but things just aren't quite falling his way just yet.

"Thoughts at Half Time – Tottenham going two up so early on made for a dull remainder of the half. Spurs were unsurprisingly in total control but perhaps should have been pushing harder for more goals, as we haven't been great in second halves so far this season, and if Mura manage to come out and nick one back then it'll be all to play for once more."

51' Mura found that goal – A corner headed away by Romero fell nicely to right back Žiga Kous on the edge of the box who connected sublimely with a first time volley that flew over Dele's head and landed in the bottom right corner of the net. 2-1, and all of a sudden it'd turned nervy for Nuno.

57' Doherty came close – Lo Celso whipped in a corner that found Doherty with a free header, he directed the ball back across goal but it was too high and over the bar.

With half an hour remaining Spurs rather embarrassingly found themselves drawing for the big guns, with Kane, Son and Moura all coming on at once for Scarlett, Dele and Gil.

Two of them almost had an immediate impact with Son picking up the ball and driving down the left wing before drilling it across to Kane in the area who was smothered by the goalkeeper at his feet as he tried to get the shot away.

67' An hour of playing time since Spurs went 2-0 up and Kane delivered the goal he'd been brought on to score – Moura's pass picked out the run of Kane, who beat the offside trap and slid onto the ball to toe-poke past the keeper into the left side of the net. 3-1.

69' Skipp made way for Højbjerg.

Kane bagged himself another just eight minutes later – Rodon showed nice composure at the back as he jinked one way then went the other to lose an attacker. He then laid it out wide to Reguilón who passed first time into the feet of Lo Celso, who also played it first time to set Son on his way down the left side. Son burst down the inside edge of the penalty area before squaring it to Kane whose right footed finish from the around the six yard box hit the boot of the Mura keeper before rippling the right side of the net. 4-1 Spurs.

The subs had made the difference – First it was Moura to Kane from the right, then it was Son to Kane from the left, and just like that the game was put to bed.

81' Reguilón departed for Emerson Royal.

87' Kane completed his hat-trick – Lo Celso did well having ventured inside from the right wing, he then rolled a lovely through ball to Kane, who with his clever movement beat the offside trap again, he took a touch to control it with his left before using his right to stroke it home into the bottom left corner. 5-1, and Kane, having only featured for half an hour, had another match ball to add to his collection.

The final score ended up as comfortable as expected for Spurs. The focus will inevitably be on how Nuno felt the need to call on the big guns to put the result beyond doubt, but I think it will have benefitted the team by getting some more sharpness and confidence into players such as Son, Moura and especially Kane, who have yet to fire on all cylinders so far this season. Let's hope they can carry some form into the vital Villa match on Sunday.

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 22. Pierluigi Gollini – 6 – Didn't have much to do. Rooted to the spot for Mura's goal.

• 2. Matt Doherty – 4 – Not terrible but looked sluggish again.

• 4. Cristian Romero – 7 – Sees the game well. His positioning and strength helps him to win the ball on many occasions. Looks composed in possession too. Not afraid to play a one two with a midfielder and break forward either.

• 14. Joe Rodon – 7 – Looked equally strong and assured alongside Romero. Demonstrated why fans have been baffled by his lack of opportunities in a Spurs shirt.

• 3. Sergio Reguilón – 6 – Decent performance. Almost snuck in to snatch his first goal for the club right before being substituted with ten to go.

• 20. Dele Alli – 7 – Looked a constant threat in the first half which was good to see after his woeful performance in the derby at the weekend. Drifted away in the second period and was eventually subbed.

• 29. Oliver Skipp – 8 – Another tenacious performance in the middle of the park. Won back possession time and time again. Seemingly subbed to be fresh and ready to start on Sunday.

• 8. Harry Winks – 5 – Another average Winks performance. Provided a decent assist for Lo Celso's goal.

• 18. Giovani Lo Celso – 8 – More like it from Lo Celso. He was confident in possession. Picked up the ball in some key areas and played a good few incisive forward passes including a peach of a through ball into Kane for his hat-trick.

• 44. Dane Scarlett – 6 – Another frustrating night for the youngster. Worked hard throughout but as has been the case in previous appearances, he didn’t see enough of the ball to make an impact.

• 11. Bryan Gil – 7 – Plenty of hassling and harrying from him again but lost control of the ball at times. Maybe as result of being a little too eager and excited.

Substitutions:

• 44. Dane Scarlett <-- 60' --> 10.Harry Kane – 9 – No doubt he'll face far tougher opposition, but you can't take anything away from his movement and finishing prowess that saw him score three goals after coming on as a second half substitute.

• 20. Dele Alli <-- 60' --> 7. Son Heung-min – 8 – Another who made an instant impact. Terrorised Mura down the left flank and eventually laid one on a plate for Kane.

• 11. Bryan Gil <-- 60' --> 27. Lucas Moura – 7 – The third of the big name trio of changes. Looked lively and didn't take long to put Kane through to make it 3-1.

• 29. Oliver Skipp <-- 69' --> 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 6 – Came on to keep it tight in the closing stages with Skipp having picked up a booking. Solid as expected.

• 3. Sergio Reguilón <-- 81' --> 12. Emerson Royal – N/A – On as a late substitute for Reguilón.

Man of the Match – 10. Harry Kane