Tottenham secured a vital 3-0 victory over Elfsborg to clinch fourth place in their Europa League group, guaranteeing an automatic berth in the last-16.
What had initially been a frustrating evening for Ange Postecoglou’s side turned into a joyous occasion as three academy graduates – Dane Scarlett, Damola Ajayi, and Mikey Moore – scored their first goals for the club in a thrilling final 20 minutes.
Spurs dominated possession from the outset, but clear-cut chances were at a premium in the first half.
Heung-min Son, making his 50th European appearance for the club, provided the brightest moments, setting up Pape Matar Sarr and Moore for Spurs’ best early efforts.
Despite their control – boasting 81% possession – Tottenham went into the break goalless, with Elfsborg offering little threat in return.
Postecoglou introduced Dejan Kulusevski at half-time, and his impact was telling. The breakthrough arrived in the 70th minute when Kulusevski whipped in a superb cross for Scarlett, who powered home a header for his first senior Spurs goal.
Secured our place in the round of 16 🔒 pic.twitter.com/iyx7Cpb8wa
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 30, 2025
Just 14 minutes later, debutant Ajayi doubled the lead, exchanging passes with Scarlett before slotting into the corner. The night was capped off deep into stoppage time as Moore stole possession, drove towards goal, and coolly finished low into the net.
And Postecoglou was full of praise for his young cohort after the match.
He said: “Really pleased. The objective was to try and win today and secure our spot in the top eight. I thought the boys were good, controlled the game and we were never really threatened. We had to bide our time as they sat deep, but they gave that up in the end to chase the game and the goals came.
“[The victory was] made in Tottenham tonight. I’m super pleased for the young boys, and we also shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that we had a couple more teenagers out there too. I’m sure those three lads won’t sleep tonight. We needed something tonight and the young lads stepped up.
“We’ve got another big week coming up so the changes at half-time were about managing the load. We still picked up injury with Radu [Dragusin] which is not great, but the three lads at half-time are good.
“[On Dragusin’s injury] It is too early to say what it is, we will need to investigate futher. But it was his knee which is not good.
“We have another game on Sunday. The club will be working hard behind the scenes to see if we can get something done.”
