Ange Postecoglou talks to TNT Sport. “Really happy with them … it’s never easy going away in Europe … the atmosphere … the conditions … we knew we would be able to overpower them with our running … we had some decent players on the bench and there’s no point just leaving them there … they’re not on holiday … Budapest is a beautiful city but they had to put in a shift … it’s an important part of our evolution as a team.”
And with that, the report’s up! Thanks for reading this MBM.
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That was rollocking good fun. Not sure Spurs fans, whose nerves will have been put through the shredder towards the end, will totally agree, but there you have it. Ange Postecoglou’s young side overcame some early nerves to take a first-half lead through Pape Sarr. They should have added to it way before Brennan Johnson eventually did – we’re looking at you, Timo Werner, again – but then Ferencváros had their opportunities to score as well. Spurs deserved to win on balance, and yet only the picky and the partial could have begrudged Ferencváros had they managed to squeak something out of this game. Both teams contributed to an entertaining tie, and Barnabás Varga’s late consolation should give the Hungarians succour going forward. Spurs, however, march on, and for the next two hours at least, the top of the Europa League megatable looks like this …
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lazio | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 3 | Anderlecht | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Ajax | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | Galatasaray | 2 | 2 | 4 |
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FULL TIME: Ferencváros 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs get over the line! It’s five wins in a row in all competitions, and two from two in the Europa League!
90 min +7: Maddison cops one in the face while competing for a loose ball with Cissé, and that’s surely it now.
90 min +6: Gustavo can’t continue. The corner’s taken. Solanke tries to shield the ball by the flag. He concedes a goal kick. We play on.
90 min +5: … but it’ll be a while before the corner is taken, because Gustavo has landed awkwardly on his shoulder, and requires some treatment.
90 min +4: Spurs try to slow things down. Vicario takes his sweet time over a goal kick. Kulusevski then wins a corner down the right and that should be enough.
90 min +3: Vicario comes to make a garden-variety catch, only to juggle the ball entertainingly, if not authoritatively. Spurs hack clear.
90 min +1: There will be five additional minutes. This is Spurs.
GOAL! Ferencváros 1-2 Spurs (Barnabás Varga 90)
Ramírez crosses from the left. On the left-hand edge of the six-yard box, Barnabás Varga sticks out a leg and forces it into the bottom left. Vicario no chance! Game back on!
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88 min: That’s five goals in five for Johnson, who had been getting pelters on social media before starting this run. There’s a lesson to be learned in there. And that is: take the plug off the internet, put it back in its box, and send it back. We’re happy to take the hit.
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GOAL! Ferencváros 0-2 Spurs (Johnson 86)
Johnson was denied by the crossbar a couple of moments ago. Now the left-hand post is his friend. Moore finds Johnson by the right-hand edge of the D. He takes a touch to his left and curls delicately across the keeper and off the bottom of the post. And in!
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84 min: Kady and Abu Fani have shots blocked. Spurs living dangerously here. That’s Abu Fani’s last act of the evening; he’s replaced by Pešić.
83 min: … and to prove that point, Kady meets a right-wing cross by flashing a close-range header straight at Vicario. Either side of the keeper and it’s a sickener for Spurs.
82 min: Solanke comes on for Sarr. Spurs know they need that extra goal all right.
81 min: … so having said Gray has been impressive, he’s caught out of position, allowing Makreckis to have a whack from the right-hand corner of the Spurs box. He lashes it wide and high.
80 min: Gray, who has been quietly impressive tonight, drives down the middle of the park and rolls a pass towards Johnson on the right. Johnson meets the ball with a first-time diagonal riser that screams past the keeper and towards the top-left corner … before twanging off the crossbar. So close to a glory goal!
79 min: Kady looks lively. He dribbles hard in from the right, then swivels and shoots towards the bottom right, hoping to catch Vicario out at the near post. The keeper is wise to his grift and flops on the ball.
78 min: Kady’s first act is to send Zachariassen into acres of space down the right with a cute reverse pass. But the following cross is no good. A reminder to Spurs that the hosts are not cooked yet.
77 min: Two more changes by Ferencváros. Kady and Makreckis come on for Gartenmann and Traoré.
76 min: Nothing comes of the corner.
75 min: Maddison rolls the free kick to the left, nearly hitting the referee and surprising Kulusevski. The winger still manages to get a shot away. It’s deflected out for a corner. Even so, a bit of a fiasco.
74 min: Johnson’s low cross-cum-shot from the right flank is poked out for a corner. One corner leads to another, which the hosts half-clear. Porro then crosses from the right. Ben Romdhane handles, and it’s a free kick just outside the box, by the right-hand corner. Maddison to take.
72 min: Gartenmann mishits a cross from the right touchline. It nearly Koncheskys its way over Vicario and into the top left. The keeper thinks about tipping over the bar, just in case, but it sails over by its own accord. Hearts in mouths time for Spurs, who could do with a second goal to make breathing easier.
71 min: Maddison slips Moore into acres on the left, and screams for the return on the edge of the D. His request is met, but Gustavo turns up to skittle him over and clear. Maddison wants a free kick, but he’s not getting one. The challenge was hard but fair.
69 min: … so having said that, this is a bit better from the hosts. Gartenmann crosses from the right, Zachariassen heading harmlessly over from 12 yards.
68 min: The home fans continue to make their noise, as they’ve done all evening. Their team’s not giving them much in return, though.
66 min: Werner is immediately hooked for that atrocity. Bergvall and Lankshear also depart. Maddison, Kulusevski and Johnson come on.
64 min: Zachariassen hits a shot-cum-cross from the right-hand edge of the Spurs box, latching onto a poor Davies header. He wins a corner, from which Spurs counter through Moore on the right. Moore rolls infield to Werner, who is one on one with Dibusz! He’s got to score, but tries to round the keeper on the left. A clunky touch brings him far too wide, and he swipes a dismal effort into the side netting. That was beyond awful. Coming off the back of a couple of big missed chances at Old Trafford, his confidence must be subterranean.
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62 min: Gray gets out of a tight spot in the left-back position with a cute dragback. That sends Spurs on the counter, Bissouma slipping a pass down the middle for Lankshear to chase. Lankshear enters the box and cocks his leg back to shoot, only for Gartenmann to slide in from behind and poke the ball back to his keeper, who claims. Lankshear wants a penalty, but it was a fine challenge. Great play all round, really.
60 min: Ćivić and Saldanha are replaced by Ben Romdhane and Zachariassen.
59 min: Lankshear powers down the right and wins a corner with a low cross intended for Moore. Porro pulls the corner back to Lankshear on the penalty spot. The debutant sends a rising shot inches wide of the top-right corner. A fine effort.
58 min: Saldanha has the opportunity to release Traoré down the middle, but overhits the pass. Vicario gathers and breathes again. “À propos Yash Gupta’s comment about the number of chances Spurs create,” begins Richard Hirst, “is it just coincidence that Big Ange is an anagram of [said aloud] G, a binge?”
56 min: This second half hasn’t quite taken off yet. Not in the wide-open style of the first, anyway.
54 min: … a short corner from the right is worked back to Moore, who runs diagonally into the box. Ramírez hangs out a leg, but Moore declines to do the cynical thing, instead attempting to power into space for a shot. He runs the ball out for a goal kick.
53 min: Porro crosses aimlessly from the right. Cissé knocks it behind for a corner anyway. One set piece leads to another, and …
52 min: Ah yes, nearly the whole pitch is now back in view. Lovely.
51 min: The game restarts with the players just about visible again.
49 min: Nothing comes of the corner. I’m reasonably sure about that … though the entire pitch has suddenly been enveloped by thick flare smoke. Whiteout. The referee stops play so it can clear.
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48 min: Saldanha drifts in from the left and curls a shot towards the bottom right. It’s heading in, but Vicario fingertips around the post for a corner. Great save.
47 min: Barnabás Varga nearly gets the better of Romero in a footrace down the right. Nearly, not quite. Romero holding his line.
Spurs get the second half underway. No changes. “Before Big Ange it was so easy to keep track of chances because Tottenham weren’t creating many,” begins Yash Gupta. “Now when Spurs squander an opportunity, instead of pointing finger at players, I’m looking forward to another chance a minute later. At times Angeball resembles holy entity and it is wonderful.”
HALF TIME: Ferencváros 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
That flew by. Spurs lead a wide-open game, but only thanks to a slightly generous offside call that cost the hosts a goal.
So let’s do that again …
That disallowed Ferencváros goal. Turns out the hosts weren’t so hard done by after all. Uefa have just released footage of the VAR decision, and while Adama Traoré was indeed miles offside in the middle, he wasn’t a factor in the outcome at all. Barnabás Varga’s knee was just off anyway, so the goal was never going to stand.
Half-time entertainment.
HALF TIME: Ferencváros 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
That flew by. Spurs lead a wide-open game, but only thanks to a slightly generous offside call that cost the hosts a goal.
45 min: Sarr sends Moore scampering into a bit of space down the right. A first-time cross is hacked behind for a corner. Porro sends it in from the right. It’s half-cleared by Traore, but Gray returns the volley with a daisycutter from 25 yards that nearly sneaks into the bottom-left corner. Dibusz does well to spot the danger through a thicket of legs and claims.
44 min: Abu Fani body-checks Porro with a forearm smash. You’ve seen players walk for less, but the referee decides a free kick will suffice. Porro to take from the right, 30 yards out. He swings it to the far stick, where Davies is penalised for shoving his opponent.
42 min: Sarr is back up and running.
41 min: It’s come at a cost, though, with Sarr now going down and requesting some treatment.
40 min: Sarr puts in a crunching tackle on Traore. Perfectly executed, at 101 mph, and the roar from the Spurs end is nearly as big as the one that greeted the goal.
38 min: Saldanha races into acres of space down the left and crosses low for Traore, who slices a shot wide left. He should have worked Vicario at the very least.
37 min: This game is a load of nonsense. Gloriously so. Plenty of front-foot fun allied to some slapstick defending.
35 min: There’s a quick check for a penalty for that challenge on Porro. There was contact, you know, Saldanha hanging out a leg unwisely, but the fact Porro sprang up immediately – and didn’t claim – may have given the VAR an out. Then there’s another scramble in the home box, Moore eased out of the way when competing for a high ball, Lankshear conceding a free kick by clanking into the keeper.
33 min: … so having said that, Porro strides down the right and takes a mighty swipe at the ball from an ambitious distance. It pings off the back of Ramírez and out for a corner. From the set piece, Porro jinks in from the right, is nearly upended by Saldanha, stays on his feet, nutmegs Abu Fani and pings a low diagonal curler off the base of the left-hand post!
32 min: Spurs calm things down with some sterile domination.
30 min: Gartenmann hoicks a low cross into the Spurs box from the right. Vicario claims. There’s not too much of this game being played in the middle of the park.
29 min: Saldanha gets irritated with some close attention from Bergvall, and comes very close to swinging an elbow into his face. Luckily nothing connects, and the pair are pals again soon enough. The referee tells them both to watch themselves.
27 min: Another Spurs corner, Bergvall swinging it in from the left. This one sees Barnabás Varga nearly releasing Saldanha clear on goal. This match is so open, the ball being shuttled from end to end with glorious abandon. Good old-fashioned reckless fun.
25 min: A Spurs corner ends up with Traoré attacking down the left. Gray dispossesses him and sets Spurs on the counter-counter. That ends with Sarr welting a shot from distance down the keeper’s throat. There is no way this game will end 0-1.
GOAL! Ferencváros 0-1 Spurs (Sarr 23)
Well, well, well! It’s been the hosts all the way, but Spurs take the lead against the run of play. Moore cuts in from the right and tries to find Lankshear in the box. Some pinball. The ball pings off Bergvall, who has fallen over, and tees up Sarr, who takes a touch on the right-hand edge of the six-yard box before slotting across Dibusz and in.
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22 min: Ćivić is booked for hauling down an in-flight Moore. He’ll miss Ferencváros’s next match in this competition.
20 min: Civic cuts back from the byline to the left of goal and cuts back for Barnabas Varga, who slams a shot goalwards from eight yards. Vicario makes a wonder save, a world-class reaction stop, though it technically doesn’t count because the flag then goes up for offside. Ferencváros look like scoring every time they go forward.
NO GOAL. Ferencváros 0-0 Spurs
18 min: … but there’s a lengthy VAR check for offside. Barnabás Varga glances at the linesman. He knows Adama Traoré, in the middle, was clearly off. But was he interfering with play, putting off Vicario? VAR says yes. No goal. That’s a generous decision for Spurs.
GOAL! Ferencváros 1-0 Spurs (Barnabás Varga 16)
Space for Ćivić on the left. He swings long for Barnabás Varga, racing in from the right. Varga heads downwards, diagonally across Vicario and into the left-hand side of the net. Easy as that, but a glorious finish nonetheless.
14 min: Spurs have found their feet after that shaky start. Literally as well as figuratively; the pitch is wetter than an otter’s pocket.
12 min: A bit of space for Sarr on the edge of the Ferencváros D. All his own work thanks to a nifty shuffle of the shoes. He sends a fierce low drive goalwards, but it’s straight at Dibusz in the Ferencváros goal. Dibusz parries and lines are cleared.
10 min: Werner chops his way past Traoré down the left and crosses. Lankshear should work the keeper at the very least, meeting the ball six yards out, but in diving towards it, can only shoulder over the bar. Big chance for the young debutant.
9 min: Spurs show in attack for the first time, Porro swinging a low cross in from the right. Neither Lankshear nor Werner are able to connect. Spurs come again, through Moore down the right flank. His dangerous low fizzer is hooked clear by Gartenmann.
8 min: Traoré cuts in from the right and curls a shot towards the bottom left. Easy for Vicario.
7 min: Gartenmann hares down the inside-right channel and looks to be upended by Bissouma. He wants a free kick, just outside the box, but isn’t getting one. Turns out it’s a great decision by the referee, replays showing the Spurs midfielder gently toed the ball away.
6 min: It’s all Ferencváros in terms of possession so far.
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4 min: Abu Fani sprays a glorious diagonal pass towards Traoré on the right. Traoré has the opportunity to drive into the box, but instead opts to tee up Barnabas Varga on the edge of the Spurs D. Varga leans back and lifts a poor first-time effort over the bar. An early warning for Spurs, who already look worryingly open at the back.
3 min: Porro’s first act is to miscontrol in his own area. Then he concedes the first corner of the evening. Abu Fani sends the set piece to the near post, where Bissouma clears. A slightly nervous start by the visitors.
2 min: Gray is playing at centre back this evening, incidentally. Porro at right back.
The hosts kick off. A wonderful atmosphere at the Ferencváros Stadion, despite the rain that’s been pelting down for the last 24 hours and doesn’t seem minded to stop.
The teams are out! Ferencváros are in their green and white stripes, so Spurs have naturally plumped for their green third-choice kit as opposed to second-choice blue. According to the chit that comes with the shirt, these verdant togs “celebrate pioneering female creatives in Tottenham, with the all-over print drawing inspiration from the Seven Sisters elm trees.” It’s amazing where the mind can take you when faced with a blank sheet of paper and everyone else from the office are already in the pub.
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Ange Postecoglou tells TNT Sports that the kids are alright. “They’ve been with us from the start of pre-season so have been fully fledged members of our squad … Mikey has had a couple of opportunities off the bench … we’ve been really keen to get them some game time and think tonight is the ideal time for it … I’m confident they’ll be able to handle themselves … I’ve got no fear about putting them out there … they’ve earned their spot and I’m sure they’ll do well …the best way to keep momentum going is to use the whole squad … I’ve put out a team tonight that I think can do the business.”
Pre-match postbag. “The home side are starting with a Civic while the visitors have got an Austin among the substitutes. From the car angle, Ferencvaros are likely to get better mileage out of this match than Spurs.” Some top gear from Peter Oh there. For the benefit of non-petrolheads, the Civic is a globally popular sedan made by Honda, while the Austin … well, that’s best explained by this “montage of racy shots”.
A reminder of what happened this time last week, when things could have turned sour for Spurs, but didn’t. It’s been a good week for Dominic Solanke, all told.
That Tottenham starting XI is about as youthful, and therefore super-exciting, as it gets. Ange gives the nod to 18-year-old right-back Archie Gray, 18-year old playmaker Lucas Bergvall, 17-year-old winger Mikey Moore, and, making his debut, 19-year-old striker Will Lankshear. Audere est Facere, as they say around N17 way.
The teams
Ferencvaros: Dibusz, Gartenmann, Cisse, Raul Gustavo, Ramirez, Abu Fani, Maiga, Traore, Saldanha, Civic, Barnabas Varga.
Subs: Adam Varga, Ben Romdhane, Pesic, Kady, Zachariassen, Botka, Szalai, Makreckis, Gruber, Toth, Rommens, Misidjan.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Gray, Davies, Sarr, Bissouma, Bergvall, Werner, Lankshear, Moore.
Subs: Forster, Austin, Maddison, Solanke, Kulusevski, Johnson, Bentancur, van de Ven, Dorrington, Cassanova, Ajayi.
Referee: Igor Pajac (Croatia).
Your Spurs side in Budapest 🫡 pic.twitter.com/8nIbjaJKw4
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 3, 2024
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Preamble
Spurs managed to see off Qarabağ with ten men last week. Can they dispatch Ferencváros with a full team of 11? We’ll soon find out. An emotional journey – not for Spurs, who haven’t played the famous Hungarian club before, but for Ange Postecoglou, who played under the legendary Ferenc Puskás at South Melbourne – begins at 5.45pm BST. It’s on!
