A heavily rotated Tottenham Hotspur dominated Ludogorets from the opening whistle in a thoroughly enjoyable 4-0 drubbing of the Bulgarian side.
After a masterclass victory against Manchester City on the weekend the danger was overlooking Ludogorets with Chelsea looming. However, Jose Mourinho and Tottenham Hotspur came to face Ludogorets with a new plan and new side from the one that faced City. The result was a dominating 4-0 victory that was never in doubt and not even as close as the 4-0 score line would lead you to believe.
A New Tottenham Team
Tottenham Hotspur had 10 new players in the starting XI from the team that had beaten Manchester City on the weekend, with only Tanguy Ndombele starting both matches. Even then Ndombele was in a different position as he played the Pierre Højbjerg holding role with Dele Alli being reintroduced into the Tottenham side as attacking midfielder. If the idea were to use this XI to put pressure on the other XI, it was mission accomplished.
Spurs Defensively
Joe Hart never once touched the ball with his gloves, although substitute Alfie Whiteman did claim a cross in his nine minutes of action off the lone Ludogorets corner kick. In front of Hart and Whiteman, it was mostly a two-man defense with Davinson Sanchez and Japhet Tanganga playing as the center backs. Since Ludogorets was pinned so deep in their defensive block, the fullbacks – Matt Doherty and Ben Davies – had freedom to roam up and down the flanks as they saw fit.
The defense hardly played a single poor touch as much of the match felt like a hockey game with one team on the power play keeping the ball inside the blue line. In this case it was Sanchez and Tanganga winning ball after ball that was lumped up toward the lonely Ludogorets striker Claudiu Keseru. Between Sanchez’ three interceptions and Tanganga’s five aerial wins, Ludogorets just could not get out of their own end and Spurs kept the pressure on.
Spurs Engine Room Overhaul
Jose Mourinho got creative with his midfield and it paid off in spades. Tanguy Ndombele was the deepest lying of the three midfielders and he was dominant doing his best Pierre Højbjerg impersonation. Ndombele and Winks collectively dominated possession throughout the game, combining for 219 touches and 192 passes.
Winks was first on the team in both categories and Ndombele was second, though it was Ndombele who was the ball winner of the two. The Frenchman won an incredible five tackles and had another four fouls from his deep lying ‘enforcer’ role. Winks was at his positive best for much of the match and scored a cheeky goal not far from midfield for Spurs third in the second half.
Dele Alli got his first start in sometime in the #10 role and played well throughout his 81 minutes. While his first touch of the match was a loose one, his immediate hustle to win the ball back and get the passing game moving showed a different Dele. Alli had one certain assist and depending on how it is scored, maybe two, as he gave us all a reminder of what he can do and Jose Mourinho something to think about.
Tottenham Attack
Spurs had a strong front three with the two Brazilians Carlos Vinicius and Lucas Moura starting with Gareth Bale. Both Vinicius and Moura were able to get their names on the scoresheet as Carlos had the first two and Lucas scored Spurs fourth.
Bale did have the most shots of anyone on the team but only managed one on target. Unlucky not to have an assist or two on the night, Bale did look a bit tentative, but also showed some good burst and some smart football.
The best part for Spurs on the night was the goals, as scoring four goals allowed Jose to introduce some youth, playing Jack Clarke, Alfie Whiteman, Harvey White, and Dane Scarlett with four of his five substitutions. While the kids did not score, they did not have too as Spurs managed two in each half.
Domination with Goals
While we have seen that possession does not always have to equate to goals, today it certainly did for Spurs as Lucas Moura and Harry Winks both scored once, as Carlos Vinicius scored twice. There may have been a little bit of luck in two of the four goals, but given the domination, it was nothing undeserved for Tottenham.
Goal 1 – Vinicius’ First for Spurs
On the first goal Dele Alli had picked up the ball in the middle of the pitch and was on the dribble. He had two players in front of him, Bale toward his right and Vinicius to his left. As the defender started to step, Dele tried to slide the ball right to Gareth Bale.
Dele’s pass deflected off the backpedaling defender and into the path of Carlos Vinicius. The Brazilian forward knew exactly what to do with this gift as he took a touch and then calmly slotted under the onrushing Plamen Iliev for the 1-0 lead. Officially I do not believe Dele got the assist and his pass was off, but the outcome was what Spurs wanted and hopefully spurred some confidence in both Dele and Vinicius.
Goal 2 Carlos Does a Double
There was no doubting who assisted the second goal as Dele Alli unselfishly tapped the ball toward the mouth of the goal for an easy tap-in for Vinicius to score his second. Likewise, there was no doubting who had set up the second goal and it was neither Dele nor Carlos.
Tanguy Ndombele had collected the ball near midfield, then on a mazy dribbling run that would have made the late Diego Maradona smile, he went from midfield to the penalty box. Iliev got down just in time to palm the Frenchman’s shot away from the goal line. It was then Dele was alert to the loose ball and tapped over to Vinicius for the easy goal. So, Carlos got the goal, Dele got the assist, Tanguy made it happen.
Goal 3 Winks Hits a Wonder
It is not all that often that a player gets an assist off a throw-in at midfield, but that is what Ben Davies got today when he made a simple 10-yard throw into Harry Winks just up the pitch. As Winks got the ball and turned it was almost like no one else was playing as he had all the time in the world so Winksy looked around.
As Winks looked again, he realized the keeper was a bit high on his line and Gareth Bale was on the far side. After a third look and still no pressure, Winks launched the ball from a full 40 yards away from the end line while nearly standing on the touchline. Given 100 tries, it is hard to say how many of them would have been as perfect as that ball, but it is safe to say not many from some 50 yards away on a line.
Iliev knew he was in trouble as he scrambled toward the goal line. After taking a step toward the goal Bale realized the ball was not really for him and just watched it sail by and then raised his hands in celebration after. Winks had struck the ball perfectly and as Iliev dove full stretch he could not quite get a glove on the ball as it nearly simultaneously hit the underside of the crossbar and the inside of the post.
Winks had a subdued celebration as if maybe it was an accident but then again maybe not. Likely Winksy will claim it was a shot, I know I sure would and regardless it was a beauty, the kind of goal that would make even Harry Kane a bit jealous.
Goal 4 Brazilian to Brazilian
The final Tottenham goal was just excellent Spurs football. Pierre Højbjerg was pressuring in the attacking half and had knocked the ball loose. Dele Alli was hustling to help and stepped between the Ludogorets player and the now free ball. After a touch Dele looked up and hit a pinpoint cross to Vinicius between two defenders.
Carlos brought the ball down perfectly and spun to his right back toward Alli and away from goal. After going nearly, a full 360 Vinicius saw Moura coming in from just outside the box and he laid the ball back to his fellow Brazilian. Lucas Moura ran up and blasted the ball into the far corner for Spurs 4th and final goal and yet another assist for Vinicius.
Tottenham were outstanding from the opening whistle to the final whistle dominating possession and every conceivable aspect of the match. The game was so imbalanced Spurs outshot Ludogorets 24 to 0. Just to fully underscore the shooting dominance, Harvey White, and Dane Scarlett – both making their senior debuts for Spurs – each got a shot off in the nine minutes of action they had.
It was an excellent overall display from Spurs and exactly the kind of response and follow-up match you want to see after a big win at the weekend and with another big game looming ahead.