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On the day that Daniel Levy celebrated his 20th anniversary as Tottenham president, it was perhaps inevitable that the lack of silverware on his watch would be highlighted. The return amounts to a single League Cup.
José Mourinho considers trophies to be “the salt and pepper of football”, the essential seasoning, and that is why Levy’s reign has been bland? Hardly. However, how everyone associated with the club yearns for something this season, quite possibly in the Europa League.
Against the 21-time Croatian champions, Spurs took another step towards the dream. It has been a grueling campaign and this was game number 45 for Mourinho and his players, but they proved too strong for Dinamo Zagreb, who made it to the quarter-finals.
Harry Kane was photographed with an ice pack on his knee after his replacement in the 84th minute, but it was a mere precaution. He will surely be fit for Sunday’s derby at Arsenal, according to Mourinho. Instead, Kane was able to reflect on a decisive two-goal contribution that fueled a fifth top win in all competitions for his team and led Dinamo coach Zoran Mamic to recognize him as a “master of football.”
“Harry is that because he is very smart,” Mourinho said. “He scores goals but also understands every advice we give him regarding his positioning and movement. Feel the gaps, look around and see where other players are and it can affect the game. He really is a very good player ”.
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It was the first serious test of the Spurs’ credentials in this competition, although it felt strange that it would have taken them 12 draws to reach it. Dinamo, who fell out of the Champions League qualifying rounds last September, got back in shape with eight straight wins in all competitions and their technique and intensity showed from the start.
The night could have gone a different tack if Dinamo’s dangerous man Mislav Orsic had shot more cleanly after being inadvertently run through by a loose backward pass from Tanguy Ndombele in the first minute. Davinson Sánchez chased after him, but Orsic took a good look at Hugo Lloris’ goal. The ending was weak.
The Spurs leveled off after a sloppy start, with Erik Lamela at the center to assert them as a physical force. It was not a night when they could simply weave their patterns; Dinamo was too aggressive for that. Lamela fought fire with fire; sticking his foot in, hurrying. There was also skill and frankness from him. He had almost hit Kane with a ball over the top and set up the breakthrough goal.
Lamela was too strong for Lovro Majer in a 50-50 challenge and, when he walked away with the ball, his only thought was to run to the edge of the area. He swerved left to right, straying away from Rasmus Lauritsen and throwing Kevin Theophile-Catherine before unleashing a shot from the outside of his boot that came off the inside of the post. Kane was available to launch the rebound into the empty net.
The Spurs worked some promising starts before the break, leading to crosses from Serge Aurier and Ben Davies only for nothing to come out of them, but they were on top, with Dinamo forced to return to their defensive block. The visitors’ plan was to hit the counter; The Spurs dealt with their threat with a degree of comfort.
There was controversy early in the second half when Ndombele stomped into the box to scare Majer, who pounced on him. The Dinamo midfielder struck his boot against Ndombele’s ankle, without touching the ball, before crashing into him. When Ndombele fell, it looked like a penalty. Much to Mourinho’s fury, referee Serdar Gozubuyuk and his video assistant saw it differently.
The Spurs announced a second goal, with Kane flipping a Son Heung-min cross towards Dele Alli only for Dinamo to punt and they got it when Theophile-Catherine missed an Aurier cross to Kane. Bad idea. Kane took one touch to kill the ball, another to roll it to the right to cut off Theophile-Catherine’s space, and a last to charge a low shot.
Gareth Bale, as a substitute, was about to receive a cross from another substitute, Steven Bergwijn, while Carlos Vinícius, who replaced Kane, shot directly at goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic. “A third goal would have adapted very well to the reality of the game,” Mourinho said. “But as it is, we didn’t kill the tie so it’s still open.
