COMEBACK A BRUV AFFAIR
Alli back to his best for new boss Mourinho
DELE ALLI found his form again after Jose Mourinho’s brother jibe to save Spurs and hand the new boss a home debut win.
They came from 2-0 down after 30 minutes to storm into the knockout stages.
Mourinho’s work on Alli over the past five days paid off as the England midfield scored one and made one to add to Harry Kane’s brace.
The boss had challenged his star to prove he wasn’t his brother following his form slump. He responded in style.
Alli said: “We did not start anywhere near good enough and we said at half-time we could not perform any worse.
“I got the goal, which was a bit lucky, but we won.
“We were losing and the manager made the decision to bring on a more forwardthinking player in Christian Eriksen. It could have been any of us to come off but thankfully the sub worked.”
Skipper Kane agreed: “It was a disappointing start, we know that. We did not come out with any energy and they got the two goals and put us under pressure.
“It was an uphill struggle but we got the goals and it feels good to qualify.”
Alli is back. So too are Spurs after looking as though they were about to suffer another nightmare like the 7-2 one they had against Bayern Munich.
Saturday’s win at West Ham was supposed to be the confidence-booster that would serve as an hors d’oeuvre for this.
Ending a Premier League winless away record stretching back 11 months was supposed to put the swagger back into this Spurs side after a poor first four months of the season.
Instead this looked, at times in the first half, as though it could be Bayern all over again.
Youssef El Arabi and Ruben Semedo punished slack defending to put the Greeks 2-0 up and Mourinho hauled off Eric Dier for Eriksen after just 28 minutes.
The tie turned in the shadow of the break. As Mourinho berated the fourth official for only two minutes of added time, Serge Aurier crossed from the right, Yassine Mariah missed his kick and Alli had a tap-in. Cue a whole new team-talk which clearly did the trick.
Three minutes after half-time, Lucas Moura crossed from the right, Kane found space and Jose Sa was left with no chance.
Aurier volleyed a powerful third and Kane headed a late fourth to seal it.
Mourinho said: “The first thing I want to say is to publicly do what I did in the dressing room and apologise to Eric Dier.
“It is never easy for a player or for the coaching staff. It was for the team and we needed a different solution.
“Eric understands but the reality is never easy and, to make it clear, it was about the team not individuals.
“We have qualified for the next round, that is the important thing for all of us at the club and the fans.
“It was hard, they are a good team, very well organised and I did not expect our boys to feel this pressure at home.”