Gareth Bale back on the scoresheet as Spurs brush aside Wolfsberger
Tottenham have emerged as the marathon men of elite-level European football. No team in any of the continent’s top five divisions have played more games than them this season. This was No 39 and the 10th in the Europa League alone, but they were able to find a sprint in the first-half to ease beyond Wolfsberger of Austria.
There were goals during an impressive opening 45 minutes for Son Heungmin, Gareth Bale and Lucas Moura – confidence boosters for the last two, in particular – and some encouraging flickers, too, from Dele Alli, on his first start since 10 January.
But the insecurities that have plagued Spurs in recent weeks bubbled to the surface in the second-half. It might sound strange given the final scoreline but they wobbled, giving away a penalty for 3-1 and being lucky not to slip to 3-2 when the Wolfsberger winger, Christopher Wernitznig, watched a shot bounce down off the crossbar and away to safety off the line.
José Mourinho was a little vexed at that point. It felt as if his players had been affected by complacency. Yet they stabilised to create further chances and when Carlos Vinícius, who came on for Son at half-time, added a well-taken fourth, it offered a more accurate reflection of the gulf in quality between the teams.
Mourinho had left Harry Kane at home, rather than take him to Budapest’s Puskas Arena where this tie – Wolfsberger’s home leg – was played because of coronavirus travel restrictions. The team’s talisman did not want to take any chances with his fitness so soon after returning from ankle trouble. Mourinho said he believed Kane would be OK for Sunday’s derby at West Ham. “Harry made the decision based on his feeling, which was that to play in this game was a risk,” the manager said.
It was still a strong Spurs starting XI with Son up front despite having run more than 28 km in last week’s extratime FA Cup defeat at Everton and the Premier League defeat at Manchester City. Son was lively in the early running and he took his goal smartly, a stooping header from Bale’s cross.
“Son is the last winner of the Puskas award [for his goal against Burnley last season] and so for him to come to the Puskas Arena and score is a special feeling,” Mourinho said.
Wolfsberger set up to go for it and why not? It was arguably the biggest tie of their history and they did not want to die wondering. The manager, Ferdinand Feldhofer, strung three forward-thinking midfielders behind two strikers and, as always, tried to press high. But it left wide spaces in behind and Spurs did more than eye them covetously.
Mourinho’s front four enjoyed themselves in the first-half. Alli mixed hard running with enterprise, including the moment on 20 minutes when he nutmegged Dominik Baumgartner near to the byline and shot for goal. It deflected just wide. From the corner, Eric Dier ought to have done better with a header.
Bale’s goal was trademark, running in behind his full-back, Jonathan Scherzer, then chopping back inside and watching him slide past him. The finish was clubbed home with his left foot. Lucas was too quick and well-balanced for Wolfsberger’s defenders, slaloming away from three of them before shooting low into the net.
The Austrians had a couple of firsthalf chances, with the big one being a close-range Dario Vizinger header which Hugo Lloris did well to tip up against the crossbar, and the tie felt over at the interval. Yet Mourinho felt his blood boil as his players eased off in the second period, when they gave their opponents too much room.
Bale went close in the 50th minute but Spurs conceded when Dier played out from the back to Moussa Sissoko only for the midfielder to take a heavy touch and be robbed by Wernitznig. Sissoko reacted by taking him out and Michael Liendl rolled the stonewall penalty past Lloris.
Wolfsberger felt the belief swell and, when Liendl teed up Wernitznig, he was denied only by the finest of margins. No Kane, no Son, no drive. It was difficult to ignore the feeling ,and it said much that Mourinho was moved to introduce Pierre-Emile Højbjerg on 78 minutes to help to see the game out.