Despite being outnumbered by the team’s early exit, Team Korea defeated Karabakh by maintaining its own offensive soccer skills. Son’s hard work was also remarkable.
Tottenham Hotspur beat Karabakh 3-0 in the first leg of the 2024-25 UEFA Europa League (UEL) League phase at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, at 4:35 a.m. on the 27th (Korea time).
Tottenham launched a 4-3-3 formation. The goalkeeper was Guglielmo Vicario. The defense was made up of Ben Davies, Mickey van der Penn, Radu Dragusin, and Archie Gray. In the midfield were Pape Matar Sarr, Yves Bissouma, and Lucas Beribal. Son Heung-min, Dominic Solanke, and Brennan Johnson were listed on the offensive.
Karabakh wrote a 4-2-3-1 formation. Patrick Andreda, Badabi Whiseinov, Elvin Zafarguliyev, Toral Bayramov, Juninho, Bahilul Mustafazad, Abdullah Zubir, Yasin Benzia, Julio Romano, Matheus Silva and Matheus Kohalski started.
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. has never played in the UEL in four years since the 2020-21 season. Until now, Tottenham had no relationship with UEL. They participated in the Europa Conference League (UECL) in the 2021-22 UEFA season, and the UEFA Champions League (UCL) in the 2022-23 UEFA season. They failed to play in the European match last season. Tottenham, which finished fifth in the Premier League last season, will return to the UEL stage.
Tottenham is making their first UEL championship in 41 years. Tottenham once won the UEFA Cup, the predecessor to the UEL, in the 1971-72 and 1983-84 seasons. Tottenham, which was in the first port, will face off against AS Roma, Rangers, AZ Alkmaar, Ferencvarosie, Galatasaray, Elpsborg, and Hoffenheim, starting with a home game against Karabakh.
The prospects are bright for Tottenham who will play in the UEL. On Monday (Korea time), “Score 90,” a soccer media outlet, revealed the probability of making the top eight in the UEFA Europa League phase on its official SNS. Tottenham Hotspur ranked first with 67 percent of the time. They were followed by Manchester United (66 percent), AS Roma (63 percent), Real Sociedad (57 percent), FC Porto (49 percent), Athletic Clube (47 percent), Lazio (40 percent), and Galatasaray (36 percent). Tottenham also had a high chance of winning the title.
At the pre-tournament press conference ahead of the match, Son said, “Winning a European championship is my dream. That is the goal of my training. It must be a tough journey, but I have to prepare well and take seriously. This is a very important event,” displaying his commitment. “Even though the number of matches has increased, fans want quality rather than quantity. Players will not want to suffer from injuries. The risk of injury can be significantly increased. Reducing the number of matches is also necessary. This is the quality of the concession team,” Son said, adding his thoughts on how to proceed with the UEL.
Meanwhile, the kick-off game was scheduled to take place at 4 p.m., but the kick-off was postponed. The reason was traffic jam. As Karabakh arrived late at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium due to traffic jam, kick-off was not possible. Not only Karabakh was late, but also local broadcasters arrived late, making it impossible to hold the event normally. “The weather was not good until today. It was even more confusing due to rain,” the British football team said. Eventually, the game was delayed by 35 minutes and kick-off was held at 4:35.
[1st half] Dragushin leaves after 7 minutes, Johnson’s first goal… Tottenham lead 1-0
From the start, Tottenham took the lead and pushed ahead. Dragusin was sent off seven minutes into the first half. Dragusin, who received an ordinary pass, was pressured by Juninho, but he spilled the ball backward due to a momentary touch miss. He almost gave himself a one-on-one opportunity. Dragusin pulled Juninho to block him, and the referee sent him off as he judged that he was blocking the scoring opportunity.
Tottenham was devastated by a direct exit in the seventh minute of the first half. Christian Romero was sent off at the match against AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League, Tottenham’s last UEFA competition in 2023. Romero replaced Dragusin but was sent off after seven minutes. Tottenham put Destiny Udogi without Beribal. Udogi was at left-back and Davis moved to center-back.
Johnson scored the first goal. Bissouma, who caught Passmith in the 12th minute of the first half, passed to Solanke. Solanke passed to Johnson. With Johnson finishing, Tottenham took a 1-0 lead. Tottenham did not get off after Johnson’s goal and struggled to score additional goals while continuing to play aggressive soccer. Karabakh raised the line and actively pressured.
Johnson missed the opportunity to score an additional goal. In the 26th minute of the first half, Juninho showed good penetration, but it was canceled due to offside, but Johnson fired a shot when the goalkeeper came out of Tottenham’s counterattack, but it missed. Karabakh aimed for the equalizer as he dug into the empty space of Tottenham. He sent the ball to the back of Tottenham’s defense to continue his straight attack. Juninho’s decisive shot in the 38th minute of the first half went off the goal.
Karabakh continued to torment Tottenham. Tottenham found a way to counterattack by sending a long pass to Son Heung-min in front, but it did not lead to a shot. Karabakh drove in. Juninho’s shot missed in the 40th minute and Andrade’s shot in the 44th minute was off the goal. The first half ended with Tottenham’s 1-0 lead despite numerical inferiority despite Dragusin’s early exit.
[Second half] Tottenham endures penalty crisis and scores back-to-back goals! 3-0 win amid Sar-Solanke score
At the beginning of the second half, Tottenham called in Johnson and put in Kulusevski. Tottenham continued to attack, although there was no one like in the first half. They created chances centering on Kulusevski who was located on the right side, aiming for an additional goal. At the 6th minute of the second half, Kulusevski broke through the right side while breathing with Gray, but his cross was blocked.
Sarr scored a goal. At a corner kick in the seventh minute of the second half, Sarr connected the ball that was hit by the goalkeeper’s hand and flowed backward, but it hit the defense and shook Karabakh’s net. Solanke missed the opportunity created by Son. Solanke, who received Son’s pass at the 13th minute of the second half, fired a direct shot, but was blocked by the goalkeeper.
Karabakh missed the opportunity to equalize. In the 14th minute of the second half, Van der Penn committed a foul and dedicated the penalty kick. Bayramov, the kicker, stepped forward, but he flew over the goal and covered his head. In the 15th minute of the second half, Bayramov took another chance and shot, but was blocked by Vicario’s defense.
Karabakh continued to push. In the 16th minute of the second half, Zubir Heather was blocked by Tottenham’s defense. Juninho shot in the 20th minute of the second half but failed to score. Karabakh used a substitute card in the 22nd minute of the second half. He sent out Romao and put in Leandro Andrade. Bayramov, who missed the penalty kick, also went out. Emmanuel Adai came in.
Solanke scored a goal. In the 23rd minute of the second half, Son Heung-min’s shot was blocked by Andreeda, but Solanke pushed the second ball to make it 3-0. After scoring Solanke, Son Heung-min was excluded from injury concerns. Timo Werner was added instead of Son. Bissouma was also removed and Rodrigo Bentancur was added.
Karabakh had his sights set on a comeback goal. However, he was repeatedly blocked by Vikario’s defense. Zubir and Andrade made consecutive shots at the 27th minute of the second half, but failed to score a goal. Juninho scored at the 32nd minute of the second half, but it was ruled offside and the goal was cancelled. Karabakh added Marco Jankovic and Abbas Huseynov at the 34th minute of the second half to strengthen their last-minute offensive. Tottenham added Mikey Moore, born in 2007, without Solanke at the 39th minute of the second half.
Three minutes were added in the second half. Karabakh failed to take advantage of the numerical advantage and ended up scoring a goal. Tottenham ended the match with a 3-0 victory. 메이저사이트