Advertisement
Tottenham Hotspur's Damola Ajayi celebrates scoring. Alamy Stock Photo

17-year-old makes history as Spurs get out of jail late on

Goals from Damola Ajayi, Dane Scarlett and Mikey Moore ensured the Premier League side secured a top-eight spot by beating Elfsborg.

Updated at 22.33

FIRST TOTTENHAM goals for academy graduates Dane Scarlett, Damola Ajayi and Mikey Moore clinched a 3-0 win over Elfsborg and secured the club’s passage into the last 16 of the Europa League.

Spurs knew a point would likely secure a top-eight berth and help them avoid next month’s play-off phase, but Ange Postecoglou watched two unlikely figures come off the bench and earn a precious three points.

Scarlett only returned to the club earlier this month from a mixed loan spell at Oxford but scored four minutes after his second-half introduction with a superb header for his first Tottenham goal on his 18th appearance.

Ajayi, a regular for the U21s, followed it up with a superb second six minutes from time before Moore grabbed a brilliant third in stoppage time to help Spurs claim fourth spot in the league phase.

It was not a completely positive night for Postecoglou, however, as while Micky van de Ven’s comeback passed by without note, fellow centre-back Radu Dragusin was forced off in the second half.

Postecoglou made three changes from Sunday’s dismal 2-1 loss to Leicester, with Van de Ven handed a start on his eagerly-awaited return.

Moore was also drafted into the line-up and tried to make an instant impression with an exciting run down the right, but Son Heung-min failed to apply the finish at the back post.

Son had some joy himself shortly afterwards when he whizzed past Simon Hedlund and was brought down outside the penalty area.

The resulting free-kick came to nothing and Lucas Bergvall was soon the centre of attention after Postecoglou told him to calm down following a couple of sloppy passes.

While Bergvall was overeager to impress against a team from his native Sweden, Son continued to look sharp and set up Pedro Porro, who had a header saved before the Spurs captain got the better of Niklas Hult but Pape Sarr’s low effort was blocked by Isak Pettersson.

Pettersson was required again before the break to deny Moore from another Son dribble to ensure the game remained goalless at half-time.

A triple substitution followed from Postecoglou with Van de Ven, Rodrigo Bentancur and Son brought off with Sunday’s trip to Brentford in mind.

Elfsborg created the first opportunity of the second period when Besfort Zeneli’s shot deflected into the path of Jalal Abdullai, but he hooked over.

Bergvall had a diving header saved by Pettersson soon after before Tottenham’s injury curse struck again when Dragusin landed awkwardly on his knee 16 minutes after he had replaced Van de Ven.

Dragusin tried to continue but was forced off and Scarlett was introduced in the 66th minute for his first appearance for the club since last May.

Four minutes later and Scarlett made the breakthrough when he powered home a header from Dejan Kulusevski’s sumptuous cross.

It was a special moment for Scarlett and another followed for 18-year-old Ajayi, who marked his debut with an excellent individual goal.

Ajayi cut inside and exchanged passes with Scarlett before drilling the ball into the bottom corner.

There was still time for Moore, arguably the most talented of Spurs’ young crop, to open his account in the second minute of stoppage time when he burst away from his marker and fired home.

It made Moore Tottenham’s fourth youngest-ever scorer and capped a great night for the club’s academy.

Elsewhere, Scottish side Rangers made it to the last 16 after climbing to eighth place with a 2-1 win against Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise at Ibrox.

Nicolas Raskin put Rangers in front with a 21st-minute header and Vaclav Cerny doubled the lead in the 55th minute before Kevin Mac Allister’s 83rd-minute reply set up a tense finale.

Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce scraped into the play-offs, finishing in 24th place — above Braga on goal difference — after a 2-2 draw at Midtjylland.

Lazio came top of the league phase despite a 1-0 defeat at Braga, while Athletic Bilbao beat Viktoria Plzen 3-1 to secure second place.

Fifth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, sixth-placed Lyon and seventh-placed Olympiakos comprise the rest of the top eight.

Roma secured a play-off place, beating Frankfurt 2-0 through goals from Angelino and Eldor Shomurodov.

Results in the Europa League on Thursday, the final round of league phase matches:

Rangers (SCO) 2 (Raskin 21, Cerny 55) Union Saint-Gilloise (BEL) 1 (Mac Allister 83)

Tottenham (ENG) 3 (Scarlett 70, Ajayi 84, Moore 90+4) Elfsborg (SWE) 0

Braga (POR) 1 (Horta 6) Lazio (ITA) 0

Slavia Prague (CZE) 2 (Chory 46, Schranz 76) Malmo (SWE) 2 (Ali 69, Bolin 71)

Lyon (FRA) 1 (Tolisso 54) Ludogorets (BUL) 1 (Almeida 77)

Anderlecht (BEL) 3 (Vazquez 18, Goto 79, Augustinsson 88) Hoffenheim (GER) 4 (Hranac 41, Bischof 54, Mokwa 59, Hlozek 65)

Real Sociedad (ESP) 2 (Oskarsson 43, 48) PAOK (GRE) 0

Ferencvaros (HUN) 4 (Ben Romdhane 9, 45, Traore 34, B. Varga 82-pen) AZ Alkmaar (NED) 3 (Mijnans 76, 90+5, Parrott 90)

Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR) 0 Porto (POR) 1 (Gonzalez 58)

Midtjylland (DEN) 2 (Diao 27, Andreasen 86) Fenerbahce (TUR) 2 (En-Nesyri 39, Dzeko 47)

Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) 1 (Pikhalonok 76) RFS (LAT) 0

Athletic Bilbao (ESP) 3 (N. Williams 25, Alvarez 64, Marton 90+5) Viktoria Plzen (CZE) 1 (Havel 71)

Roma (ITA) 2 (Angelino 44, Shomurodov 69) Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) 0

Ajax (NED) 2 (Traore 23, Fitz-Jim 58) Galatasaray (TUR) 1 (Osimhen 90+4)

Twente (NED) 1 (Rots 76) Besiktas (TUR) 0

Nice (FRA) 1 (Bouanani 74) Bodo/Glimt (NOR) 1 (Bjorkan 54)

Olympiakos (GRE) 3 (Kaabi 56, 60, Biancone 89) Qarabag (AZE) 0

FCSB (ROM) 0 Manchester United (ENG) 2 (Dalot 60, Mainoo 68)

Additional reporting by AFP

Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel