Tottenham Hotspur became the first English team to beat Ferencvaros in Hungary in 55 years on Thursday evening as they won 2-1 in the Europa League.
Goals from Pape Matar Sarr and Brennan Johnson mean Spurs have won their last five games in all competitions, including their first two in the league phase of the Europa League. Yet Ange Postecoglou’s much-changed side were still pushed all the way in Budapest.
Guglielmo Vicario made a couple of excellent saves at key moments, while Barnabas Varga had a goal disallowed for a tight offside when the contest was still goalless.
Yet the visitors still found a way to prevail, with academy stars Mikey Moore and Will Lankshear impressing on their first competitive starts.
Jay Harris dissects the main talking points from Hungary.
Did the eight changes to the starting line-up pay off?
Postecoglou made seven changes to the team that tore apart Manchester United on Sunday afternoon and named four teenagers in the starting XI in a European competition for the first time since February 2009.
With the rain lashing down and the home fans creating a raucous atmosphere, it was no surprise this young side initially found it difficult to settle. Pedro Porro and Yves Bissouma, two of the more experienced members of the group, both gave the ball away cheaply on the edge of their own box as Ferencvaros started aggressively.
Spurs braved a ferocious atmosphere (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP)
They were lucky Varga’s header was ruled out for offside, while Vicario was forced into a point-blank save from the striker a couple of minutes later. Sarr’s goal at least allowed Tottenham to feel a bit more confident. Ben Davies had a great chance to score from a corner while Porro hit the post. “I thought they handled it really, really well,” said Postecoglou.
Yet, with those opportunities spurned and the hosts threatening a second-half revival, the Tottenham manager eventually threw on his senior players, including James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke and Johnson with the game too open for comfort. Johnson’s assured left-footed strike duly sealed the victory — even if Varga’s late effort made things awkward.
Johnson has scored in his last five games in all competitions. It turned out to be a challenging evening, but Spurs will have learned a lot.
Johnson curls in his side’s second goal (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images)
Did Mikey Moore impress on his first start?
This was the moment Tottenham’s fanbase have been waiting for since Moore became the youngest player to represent them in the Premier League when he came off the bench in their 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in May. Moore was finally given a chance to show everybody what he is capable of from the start — and he did not disappoint.
The 17-year-old winger’s first involvement was to win a free kick and Ferencvaros’ defence found him elusive throughout — Eldar Civic eventually located him and was booked for a foul. The England Under-17 international is so confident driving at opponents and he played a huge part in Sarr’s goal.
Moore moved inside from the right wing and breezed past a couple of players before attempting to chip the ball into space for Lankshear. The ball bounced around in the box before falling kindly to Sarr, who had a simple finish from a few yards out.
The outstanding Moore shoots under pressure from Mohammad Abu Fani (David Balogh/Getty Images)
Moore should have registered an assist in the second half when he played a brilliant ball for Timo Werner on the counter. Werner found himself one-on-one with Denes Dibusz and poked the ball past him, but the angle was too tight and he hit the side netting.
“I thought he was outstanding,” said Postecoglou in his post-match press conference. “It’s brilliant for a 17-year-old to play 90-plus minutes in a European away tie. He just handled it superbly; I kind of knew he would and I think it’ll help his growth as a footballer once you get through a sort of experience like that.
“He’ll grow and evolve and I didn’t feel like I needed to take him off. He still looked strong at the end and was still contributing.
“His ability to just deal with pressure and keep the ball in really tight areas and make really good clean decisions for such a young boy… it’s not easy out there when defenders fly in and he took one within the first 30 seconds, but he drives on. He’s got so much growth and he wants to learn.
“I couldn’t be happier with him and I’m very pleased that he’s part of our football club.”
This was worth the wait.
What is Archie Gray’s best position?
Archie Gray, who was making his second appearance at this level, started at left-sided centre-back even though he prefers to play in central midfield or at right-back. He had a large amount of space to cover with Davies pushing forward to join attacks and was left exposed for Barnabas Varga’s disallowed goal.
Gray followed Varga into Ferencvaros’ half only for the striker to flick the ball over his head for Adama Traore to chase. Civic then whipped a cross at the back post for Varga to head past Vicario, but the forward had strayed offside by a couple of centimetres in the build-up.
Gray switched with Davies at half-time and moved to left-back. He was exceptional on the ball and, at one point, ran the entire length of the pitch before being tackled on the edge of the box.
Gray started at centre-half but swapped to left-back (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP)
On the hour mark, it looked like he was trapped by the corner flag, but he pulled off a brilliant backheeled flick that launched a Spurs counter-attack. It was his pass that set up Johnson to strike the bar 11 minutes from time. “I thought Archie was brilliant today,” said Postecoglou. “We asked him to play two different positions and he just adapts and handles it.”
The 18-year-old’s stock keeps growing with every appearance and it is exciting to think what he might be capable of when offered the chance to play in his favourite position.
After being sacrificed for Destiny Udogie in last week’s 3-0 victory over Qarabag following Radu Dragusin’s red card, Lucas Bergvall was presented with a second chance to impress. The 18-year-old has looked silky when he has come off the bench in the Premier League, but this threatened to be a better opportunity to see how he fits into this team.
Bergvall was tasked with being the playmaker, with Sarr and Bissouma alongside him in midfield. He showed a few slick touches but struggled to make a significant impact.
Bergvall struggled to make an impact (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images)
Towards the end of the first half, Porro fired a pass into Bergvall’s feet, but he dummied it assuming Moore was running in behind. Yet Moore had not moved and the ball went out of play. Porro complained while Bergvall tried to explain himself. That incident, and an unfortunate slip in the second half which led to a Ferencvaros counter-attack, summed up his evening.
There will be lots more chances for Bergvall to impress and it is easy to forget that he is still a young and inexperienced player.
What next for Tottenham?
Sunday, October 6: Brighton (A), Premier League, 4.30pm UK, 11.30am ET
A tricky trip to the south coast where Spurs were beaten 4-2 last December. But they will travel to the Amex stadium bolstered by five wins in a row in all competitions.
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(Top photo: David Balogh/Getty Images)
