Ange Postecoglou’s decision to place his faith in youth paid off as Tottenham registered their fifth successive win in all competitions – and second in the Europa League – with a 2-1 victory at Ferencvaros.
Postecoglou named four teenagers in his side – Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Mikey Moore and debutant Will Lankshear – and they passed the test with flying colours in an often chaotic game in Budapest.
Pape Sarr put the visitors in front after 23 minutes and substitute Brennan Johnson added a second with his fifth goal in five games with four minutes to go.
Barnabas Varga pulled one back late on but Spurs held on and are now well placed in the Europa League table.
Spurs found themselves under the cosh early on and they required a major slice of luck to avoid falling behind after 16 minutes.
Eldar Civic’s left-wing cross was headed in by Varga but a lengthy VAR check ruled the striker was in an offside position with his knee marginally ahead of the Spurs defenders.
Varga was causing Spurs problems and only a brilliant save from Guglielmo Vicario kept out his close-range effort four minutes later.
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Sarr strikes
Having survived the onslaught, the visitors promptly went ahead from their first meaningful attack.
Moore chipped a ball aimlessly into the box and, after some woeful defending, it fell at the feet of Sarr and he finished coolly into the bottom left-hand corner.
Spurs take the lead! ✅
Pape Matar Sarr reacts first and squeezes it into the bottom corner ⚽️
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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 3, 2024
Sarr almost added a second shortly afterwards with a piledriver straight at Ferencvaros goalkeeper Denes Dibusz.
It was frantic stuff with both sides pouring forward with defending an afterthought.
Pedro Porro was next to try his luck, nutmegging Mohammad Abu Fani before curling a shot on to the left-hand post.
The Spanish full-back got forward again two minutes later and went over the leg of Matheus Saldanha inside the area. It was an iffy challenge by the Brazilian forward but VAR did not feel the need to overturn the referee’s decision to play on.
A hugely enjoyable half ended with Spurs on top, Gray fizzing in a 25-yard shot that required Dibusz to be alert.
Vicario excelled himself once again three minutes after the restart by finger-tipping Saldanha’s shot round the post.
After a short pause for smoke from flares thrown by the home fans to clear, Tottenham came again approaching the hour mark and Lankshear was inches away from a debut goal with a rising shot that flashed over the bar.
Werner frustrates once again
The only slight negative from Spurs’ impressive win at Manchester United on Sunday was their profligacy in front of goal with Germany international Timo Werner the biggest culprit.
And Werner showed more indecisive finishing after 64 minutes when a cooler head was required.
Having been played in by Moore, Werner opted to round Dibusz but only succeeded in taking it too wide and firing his shot into the sidenetting.
Postecoglou had seen enough and Werner, along with Bergvall and Lankshear, was replaced by the more established James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Johnson.
Johnson’s hot streak meant he came into this game full of confidence and that was evident after 80 minutes when he conjured up a brilliant effort that crashed back off the bar with Dibusz beaten.
Brilliant Brennan
Substitute Kady planted a header straight at Vicario before Johnson sealed the points with four minutes to go. Moore picked out the Wales international on the edge of the area and he curled a lovely shot into the bottom left-hand corner via the post.
Varga got the goal his lively performance deserved in the final minute, directing Cristian Ramirez’s cross past Vicario but Spurs had done enough.
Brennan Johnson makes it five goals in five games! 💥
The Spurs winger is in inspired form ✨
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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 3, 2024
