[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t has been a busy week at White Hart Lane. Tottenham Hotspur had an extremely positive last seven days, so lets waste no time and jump right into it.
Spurs defeat AEL in first leg of Europa play-off, 2-1
This was a tricky fixture, as I mentioned. AEL Limassol is a very good side, even though they are playing in Cyprus. The Cypriot 1st Division Champion had given Zenit St. Petersburg a good run but, ultimately, lost out to the Russian power, 3-1. AEL made sure to get off to a good start against Spurs, though, netting the opening goal of the match in the 14th minute, slammed home by Sardinero. The rest of the half showed a sluggish Spurs side trying to counter the upbeat AEL attack.
The second half was a far different story.
Erik Lamela, seen here playing with AC Milan in 2013 against Chelsea, made a huge impact in Tottenham’s 2-1 victory, assisting Roberto Soldado in a one-timer. Photo/Wikimedia Commons
Mauricio Pochettino made some clever changes to tactics that resulted in a much stronger attack. AEL, to their credit, managed to keep Spurs out of the net until the 74th minute. Erik Lamela, who has shined so far this season, was subbed in and made an immediate impact, assisting Roberto Soldado on a gorgeous lobbed through ball that was one-timed home by the Spaniard. Harry Kane would blast home a rocket in the 80th minute and Spurs would cruise to a 2-1 victory.
Spurs will host AEL in the second leg at White Hart Lane on Thursday holding that aggregate advantage, including those two crucial away goals. AEL does not play well away from their home island and I fully expect the Lilywhites to hammer the Cypriots back to the Mediterranean.
Spurs humble QPR 4-0
Pochettino’s home debut could not have gone any better.
Spurs were the best side from open to close, hammering Queens Park Rangers with possession, presses, and crucial passing. QPR essentially allowed Spurs to do whatever they wanted with the ball, including a wonderful 48-pass build up to the third goal of the match.
Nacer Chadli got a surprise start and ran with it, netting two first half goals and getting a standing ovation from the Tottenham faithful when he was subbed off. Lamela, once again, is starting to show he was worth every pound that was paid for him, assisting on Eric Dier’s goal off of a corner as well as capping off the second Chadli goal.
The attack was fantastic to watch and reminded Spurs supporters of the glory days when the Lilywhites played a menacing, yet beautiful game to watch.
Spurs say goodbye to Michael Dawson; Welcome in Fazio
The end of an era is the best way to put it. Michael Dawson was sold to Hull City on Tuesday for an undisclosed sum, though the reports show it to be somewhere around £6 million. Dawson had been at the club since 2005 after enjoying a good stint at Nottingham Forest. Appointed captain since the beginning of the 2012 season, Dawson has been and always will be a popular player and there are hopes that the 30-year-old center half will get a testimonial some time down the road when he retires.
On Wednesday, Federico Fazio was announced as the latest signing to join Spurs, the sum of which was reported at roughly £8 million. Joining the North London club from Spanish-side Sevilla, the 6’5″ center half is expected to rotate in and out with the back line that now includes Jan Vertonghen, Younes Kaboul, Eric Dier, and Vlad Chiriches. Normally, I would say this should be it for the transfer window for Spurs, but you never know with Daniel Levy. After all, Morgan Schneiderlin apparently still wants out of Southampton.
That’s it for this week, folks! We’ll be back next week when we recap the second leg of the Europa playoff with AEL and a huge matchup on Sunday with Liverpool.
