Tottenham eased into the last 16 of the Europa League as Dele Alli scored a wonderful goal in the second leg against Wolfsberger.
A spectacular goal from Dele Alli helped Tottenham to a 4-0 win over Wolfsberger on Thursday that secured their place in the last 16 of the Europa League.
Alli scored a stunning bicycle kick in the first half before setting up Carlos Vinicius and substitute Gareth Bale in the second as Jose Mourinho’s side eased to an 8-1 aggregate victory.
Spurs’ third win in nine games in all competitions, capped by a second from Vinicius, was a routine but welcome one, particularly for Mourinho, who was able to rest stars including Harry Kane and Son Heung-min as he looks to put together a string of results and ease some of the speculation over his future.
Spurs have made something of a habit of starting well this season – in fact, no Premier League team can match their tally of 11 goals in the first 10 minutes of matches in all competitions – but they have rarely broken the deadlock with such a flourish.
What does it mean? Real work starts now for Mourinho
Defeat at this stage of the competition would have piled further pressure onto Mourinho, although their progress looked almost certain after that first-leg win.
As soon as Alli’s magical opening goal effectively killed off any lingering Wolfsberger hopes, Spurs’ focus will naturally have drifted towards a key few weeks in their season.
With games against Burnley, Fulham and Crystal Palace up next, this is the chance for Mourinho’s men to build some momentum before the north London derby on March 14.
Alli emulates Giroud to give Mourinho food for thought
Not willing to be outdone by a London rival, Alli followed Olivier Giroud’s overhead kick for Chelsea against Atletico Madrid with a quite superb version of his own to open the scoring.
It was his first goal since December and the only time he has scored in a game he started for the club since last March. Given he then assisted the next two goals, perhaps it could be a step on the road to redemption in the eyes of the man in charge.
Spurs cruise despite flat Dier
This was a game played mostly at a pedestrian pace, but Dier had one or two uneasy moments at the heart of the defence.
He was lucky not even to concede a foul for bringing down Dieng at 1-0 and lost Dejan Joveljic twice thereafter to give Wolfsberger some half-chances.
What’s next?
Spurs host Burnley in the Premier League on Sunday, when Wolfsberger are also back in league action at home to Altach.
