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Jose Mourinho promised Tottenham Hotspur would be at “full power” in northeast Bulgaria on Thursday night and indeed a high-voltage performance dazzled Ludogorets into submission.
With Harry Kane scoring his 200th goal in the Spurs jersey in his 300th appearance with the club, the Bulgarian champions rarely seemed to score their first point of this Europa League campaign as Mourinho’s revamped team expired the setback from last week against Royal Antwerp.
This heartwarming victory leaves Spurs ready to progress from Group J. “We couldn’t have lost two Europa League games,” said Mourinho. “We couldn’t have reached the last three games with only three points. This was a victory we needed. “
Tottenham, with Kane and Gareth Bale deployed side by side for the first time when Mourinho made seven changes from the Antwerp backhand, were two up at the break. After Kane got ahead, in various ways, by not accepting the touchdown invitation issued by Harry Winks’ audacious second-minute chip, hitting a post and forcing Plamen Iliev to make a decent save, he finally connected with the corner of Lucas Moura. Rising imperiously above all the visitors, he drove a header past the home keeper and joined Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Smith in Tottenham’s exclusive “200 goals and counting” club.
By halftime, the Spurs had doubled their lead. Perhaps eager not to be overshadowed by his fellow forward, Bale helped create the second goal, sliding a good pass for Kane to launch a low cross to Lucas, whose shot from close range did the rest.
Bale got a little closer to optimal physical condition for the match for 65 minutes punctuated by some promising touches, most notably a back heel that bisects the defense, as the Welsh talisman gradually commits his tribulations at Real Madrid to memory. that recedes. Mourinho decided that Kane’s job was done at halftime, replacing him with Carlos Vinícius, who, frustratingly, couldn’t take this opportunity to shine on a complacent stage, rather than fight horribly in the last third.
Perhaps Kane’s teammates interpreted his early departure as a sign to relax because they began halfway by lying back and momentarily losing focus. Bernard Tekpetey, freshly released from the bench by interim Ludogorets coach Stanislav Genchev, had room to unleash a deflected shot that fell into the hands of Claudiu Keseru to volley past the last spotted goalkeeper Joe Hart.
It was time for Mourinho to introduce Son Heung-min and the South Korean had only 17 seconds on the pitch, after replacing Lucas, when his first selfless touch led Giovani Lo Celso to score goal number 3.
It may have been a straightforward ending, but Lo Celso also offered plenty of graceful footwork, possibly outshining more illustrious teammates as he redeemed himself for a poor display in Antwerp that had seen the Argentine withdraw at halftime.
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Mourinho, however, was unhappy with Lo Celso’s out-of-possession contribution. “Good with the ball and not good without the ball,” he said pointedly. “He is not in good physical condition. It has risen and fallen but is advancing step by step. I feel like he is still not the Gio we know who can be an incredible player. What he does with the ball is incredible but we need more intensity ”.
While Son, by contrast, and not for the first time, reaffirmed his immense value to Spurs, the sense that Dele Alli’s star continues to wane in Mourinho’s firmament was reinforced as the last troubled talent from North London remained. on the bench at all times.
Granted a rare moment in the sun, Hart seemed desperate to impress but had little chance. It is true that Cauly Souza offered the Bulgarians a belated glimmer of hope thanks to a couple of flashy steps, but when Souza deftly maneuvered into a decent space, he ended up shooting directly at the former England goalkeeper.
Never mind, with Winks improving his game in midfield and Eric Dier at the heart of an immaculately organized Spurs defense, Mourinho could allow himself a smile.
