Alli impresses as Tottenham cruise through in Europa Leagueon February 24, 2021 at 7:23 pm

Dele Alli scores a spectacular overhead kick as Tottenham cruise into the Europa League last 16 with an 8-1 aggregate win over Wolfsberger.

It was in keeping with an impressive performance by Alli, who was at his creative best to also lay on two goals.

Carlos Vinicius scored twice, either side of a Gareth Bale effort.

No team in Uefa Cup or Europa League history has overturned a three-goal deficit from the first leg at home to progress and Wolfsberger never threatened to do so here.

Spurs could have had more, with Vinicius coolly rounding goalkeeper Manuel Kuttin before Gustav Henriksson cleared off the line.

But Vinicius did get his goal with a back-post header from Alli’s smart cross, before substitute Bale lashed into the top corner from the Englishman’s through ball.

Striker Vinicius added his second and Tottenham’s fourth to complete the rout after good work from 16-year-old Dane Scarlett.

Jose Mourinho’s side will find out who they face in the next round during Friday’s draw.

Mourinho still in trophy hunt

Tottenham boss Mourinho doubled down on his methods this week and insisted he will be remembered in north London for the right reasons.

A run of five defeats in six Premier League games has seen his job called into question but the Portuguese still has a chance to win two trophies this season at a club who are without silverware for 13 years.

Mourinho, whose side are in the Carabao Cup final and now the Europa League last 16, was able to rest the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Tanguy Ndombele with the tie all but sewn up after victory in Budapest.

He also left Bale on the bench until 22 minutes from time, perhaps with the Welshman in mind for a start in the Premier League against Burnley on Sunday.

Alli is a player Mourinho has used sparingly this season but made his case for more game time with a wonderful opening goal after 10 minutes.

The playmaker shifted the ball wide to Matt Doherty before finding the bottom corner with a bicycle kick on the bounce after collecting the return.

Alli then picked out Vinicius at the back post with a well-weighted delivery for the Brazilian to guide a header beyond goalkeeper Kuttin.

Bale made it three from Alli’s pass, allowing Mourinho to bring on 20-year-old defender Marcel Lavinier and 17-year-old midfielder Nile John for their Spurs debuts.

It was teenage substitute Scarlett who made the fourth goal, however, winning the ball back in the area for Vinicius to convert his sixth Europa League goal this season.

The Europa League winners will earn a place in next season’s Champions League, but Mourinho’s attention will now switch to trying to overhaul a nine-point deficit so Spurs can secure a spot in Europe’s elite competition via the Premier League.

‘No need for the emergency plan’ – what they said

Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho speaking to BT Sport: “It was good, we got through, won the match like we wanted and no need for the emergency plan, we played well for large periods and all four goals were beautiful.

“A special night for the kids who played for the first time and no injuries.

“There is not one player here that I say I am not happy with, the performances were good, are they all going to start on Sunday? No, but we are playing Thursday, Sunday, Thursday.”

Scarlett emulates Mbappe – the stats

• Spurs have progressed to the last 16 of the Europa League for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign, when they were eliminated by Thomas Tuchel’s Borussia Dortmund.
• Tottenham are the ninth different team to score 100+ goals in the Europa League, with only Benfica (53) and Sevilla (55) reaching the landmark in fewer games (56).
• Austrian sides have now lost 21 of their 22 trips to England in major European competition, with FK Austria Wien the only side to avoid defeat against Chelsea in a Cup Winners’ Cup encounter in October 1994.
• Jose Mourinho has seen one of his teams score at least eight goals across a major European knockout tie for the first time since his Real Madrid days, when the Spanish side beat Apoel Nicosia 8-2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2011-12.
• Spurs are the first English side score four or more goals in both legs of a European knockout tie since Newcastle United in the 1994-95 Uefa Cup first round against Royal Antwerp (5-0 first leg, 5-2 second leg).
• Dele Alli had a direct hand in three goals for the first time in the same game since December 2017 against Southampton.
• Carlos Vinicius has scored in each of his past four Europa League matches (six goals), the first Spurs player to net in four straight European appearances since Jermain Defoe in November 2013.
• Vinicius is averaging a goal or assist every 66 minutes in all competitions for Tottenham this season (nine goals, three assists), the best rate among any player at the club to have played at least 90 minutes this season.
• Aged 16 years and 337 days, Tottenham’s Dane Scarlett is the first 16-year-old to assist a Europa League goal since Kylian Mbappe in December 2015 for Monaco against Tottenham.

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