MOURINHO NEARLY HITS BAR!
Spurs win after small goals changed
FIvE goals on the South Coast, a surprise night off in East London and progress in North Macedonia but only after Tottenham noticed the goals in Skopje were too small.
Jose Mourinho was called on to the pitch before kick- off when his goalkeepers noticed during the warm-up there was something not quite right about the height of the crossbar.
‘The goalkeepers live in the goals and they know,’ said Mourinho. ‘I am not a goalkeeper but when I spread my arms, I can tell the difference. We got the UEFA delegate to confirm, and it was five centimetres smaller and we demanded for the goals to be replaced with goals of the right dimension.’
Both sets of posts were removed by stadium staff and replaced by different ones which were the regulation height.
Tottenham, having won the game with goals from Erik Lamela, Son Heung-min and Harry Kane, clinched a place in the Europa League play-off against Maccabi Haifa, did not accuse Shkendija of skullduggery.
Mourinho was able to laugh about the incident. Overall, it has been a good week for him. Momentum is rolling after defeat against Everton on the opening day of the Premier League season.
‘We did just enough,’ he said. ‘ We didn’t play magnificent. Just enough. And the players on the bench made a difference, gave us a different intensity.’
His forwards are scoring goals and, although they should have been more clinical in Skopje, his team are alive in all competitions, as they wait for the EFL decide what to do about their Carabao Cup tie at Leyton Orient, called off due to positive coronavirus results at the League Two club.
This had the hallmarks of a European stroll when Lamela collected a pass from Son inside a vacant penalty area and fizzed the ball past Kostadin Zahov, for his first goal since January. Mourinho’s team dominated possession and Dele Alli, on his first outing since he was hauled off at half-time of the first day of the Premier League against Everton, was heavily involved.
Mourinho prowled on the touchline in his open-necked shirt, barking positive messages but painfully aware that the inability to find the second goal left his team vulnerable.
His fears were realised when Shkendija conjured an equaliser with a fierce strike from valjmir Nafiu.
Spurs were complacent as they failed to close down the threat and the team that finished third in Macedonia’s curtailed top flight last season passed the ball square from left to right.
When the move reached Nafiu, he took a touch and slammed a crisp drive into the top corner from just outside the penalty area.
Joe Hart had yet to make a save, he had barely touched the ball and yet he was picking it out of the net on his Tottenham debut.
Confidence surged through the Shkendija players and they almost caught Spurs on the break.
Mourinho had seen enough and turned to his substitutes. Alli was among those replaced. Both Lamela and Kane missed with headers from excellent opportunities before Son scored the second.
Zahov parried a fierce shot from an angle by Lucas Moura and Son picked up the rebound and swept the ball high into the net.
Kane scored the third, heading in from a cross by Son. Panic over. It is more than 10 years since they failed to reach the group stages of a European campaign. LEyTON ORIENT’S League Two game at Walsall tomorrow has been postponed after most of the O’s squad tested positive for Covid-19.