Youngsters lift Tottenham to 3-0 Europa League win over Elfsborg
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Tottenham Hotspur's Mikey Moore celebrates scoring their third goal.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MANCHESTER, England - A trio of Tottenham Hotspur youths stepped up to the mark on Jan 30 night to send the London club directly through to the last 16 of the Europa League with a 3-0 home win over Elfsborg, ensuring they avoided a potentially tricky play-off.
A loss to the Swedes could have seen Ange Postecoglou’s side finish outside the top eight and forced into a two-legged playoff tie, but goals from 20-year-old Dane Scarlett, Damola Ajayi (19) and Mikey Moore (17) saw them comfortably finish fourth on 17 points.
The 19-year-old Ajayi netted in the 84th minute when he played a one-two with Scarlett before slotting it into the corner.
Moore, 17, celebrated his first goal in a Spurs shirt seconds before the final whistle, driving forward and then beating his man before lashing a shot into the far corner.
“Made in Tottenham tonight,” Postecoglou told broadcaster TNT Sports. “Super pleased for the young boys, and we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that we had another couple of 18-year-olds out there as well, so yeah, it’s great. It’s great for the club.
Spurs struggled to break down the dogged defence of their Swedish visitors until their youth movement took over in the 70th minute, and after that there was no looking back.
“I’m sure those boys won’t sleep tonight, but we needed that. We needed some energy – we kind of designed the game today, we’re trying to protect some of our players, we’ve got a big week coming up, and we were going to need the young boys today, and they stood up,” Postecoglou said.
Tottenham’s recent poor run of form has seen plenty of speculation that the Australian coach might soon be out of a job, and he allowed himself precious little time to enjoy the win before turning his focus to Premier League clash with Brentford on Feb 2.
It was not all good news for the manager as Radu Dragusin had to leave the pitch with an apparent knee injury.
With injuries to a number of key players, Postecoglou said that he was hopeful that the club would be able to bring in some reinforcements before the transfer window closes on Feb 3.
“We’ve got a game Sunday that we will be focusing on, but people at the club are working hard behind the scenes to see if we can do some business,” he said. REUTERS
Dane Scarlett scores the first goal for Tottenham.
PHOTO: REUTERS
