Dele Shows His Class As Spurs Progress

Tottenham eased into the last 16 of the Europa League with a thumping 8-1 aggregate success over Wolfsberger, following an emphatic 4-0 second-leg victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Dele Alli – making just his seventh start of a season in which Spurs have played 41 matches already – was the game’s star turn. Tottenham’s forgotten man brilliantly scored his side’s first goal and went on to create our second and third.

After a perfunctory opening ten minutes, Alli suddenly jolted the game to life. Dropping off the Austrian defence, the England man collected Harry Winks’s perceptive forward pass. Following a quick exchange with Lamela, Alli worked the ball wide to Doherty before sprinting into the box – hoping for a return. The full-back pulled a low cross to the base of the penalty area. With his back to goal, Alli’s first touch sent the ball spinning above his head. With his second – a devastating overhead kick – he buried it into the top corner.

Despite their now hopeless situation, Wolfsberger remained unabashed in their total commitment to Teutonic football. Rather than settle for damage limitation, the Austrians admirably tried to press Spurs high up the pitch and continued to commit bodies forward at every opportunity.

Invariably, this left space for Tottenham to exploit. With Jose Mourinho audibly urging him on, Steven Bergwijn looked full of menace on the left flank – the winger is yet to break his goal-scoring duck for this season. There was an air of desperation to the Dutchman’s performance, thrusting him beyond countless attempted tackles but also robbing him of all composure in front of goal.

By contrast, exuding confidence, Dele Alli was a picture of poise. Mid-way through the first half, lurking on the left, he played an audacious first-time pass with the outside of his right boot that rivalled even his goal in its sheer beauty. Sadly Vinicius had failed to anticipate and started his run too late to reach it.

The Brazilian’s next opportunity came from a much more conventional passage of play. The buccaneering Doherty found space to cross following a sharp give-and-go with Sissoko. His whipped centre found Vinicius jumping highest, but under pressure, the striker failed to keep his header down.

Following Erik Lamela’s measured through-pass, Vinicius did finally hit the target in first-half injury time. The Benfica loanee craftily dragged the ball beyond onrushing goalkeeper Manuel Kuttin before steering his shot towards the gaping net. Only Gustav Henriksson’s sliding goal-line interception denied Spurs their second before the interval.

Four minutes into the second half Eric Dier was perhaps fortunate to remain on the pitch. A long straight pass exposed the laxity that has dogged the Tottenham defence since the turn of the year. Cheikhou Dieng looked to have a clear run on Joe Hart’s goal before Dier bundled him over on the edge of the box. While the Senegalese might have tried harder to remain on his feet, it was a challenge full of risk made from a position of panic. The referee was unmoved by Wolfsberger’s protestations and, within 43 seconds, the Austrians found themselves further behind.

Alli again drifted to the left of the pitch, where all evening the visiting defence proved unable to track him. His inswinging delivery, perfectly pitched beyond the Wolfsberger rearguard, was met powerfully by Vinicius – who steered his header beyond Kuttin at the near post.

With just over twenty minutes to play, Jose Mourinho sent on Gareth Bale for the lively Lamela and Lucas Moura for the exasperated Bergwijn. Bale took less than four minutes to make his mark. Played in by Alli’s low diagonal ball that dissected the weary Wolfsberger backline, Bale flashed an unstoppable first-time effort into the top corner. It is a delight to see the Welshman finally enjoying his football again after so long on the sidelines.

Mourinho used the remainder of the game to blood Marcel Laviner, Nile John and Dane Scarlett from the bench. The latter, who earlier this month become the youngest man to represent Spurs in the Premier League, played a decisive role in the home side’s fourth and final goal of the night.

The rookie striker belied his tender years when recognising that possession could be pinched from the hesitant Henriksson in the Wolfsberger box. The 16-year-old toed the ball into Vinicius’s path, and the Brazilian instantly swept his shot beyond Kuttin with aplomb.

Friday’s draw for the next round will doubtless see Tottenham face a challenge far sterner than that offered by Wolfsberger over the past week. But with Alli forcing his way back into contention, Bale returning to his exhilarating best and Mourinho sure to select his strongest side from here on in – no team now left in the competition will relish being paired with Spurs.