ICC 2018: AS Roma 1-4 Tottenham Hotspur: 5 talking pointsÂ
Tottenham Hotspur fought back from an early setback to thump AS Roma 4-1 in the International Champions Cup friendly at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium.
Patrik Schick put the Giallorossis ahead inside three minutes as Spurs were thrown in a tizzy, but Fernando Llorente and Lucas Moura each bagged a brace before half-time to effectively put the tie to bed.
With a host of changes made after the interval, the game expectedly turned into a plodding affair with minimal goal-mouth action, even though Roma did try to pull something back with a few futile attempts. But Tottenham ran out comfortable winners to begin their pre-season on a high note.
The major talking points from the friendly:
#1 Roma start brightly but undone by poor defending
On paper, Tottenham appeared to play the stronger side of the two even though Christian Eriksen was the only first-team player to start. But Roma, fielding a group of youngsters, were the ones to start on a brighter note, dominating possession and catching Spurs off guard by quickly moving forward with silky passing play.
It bore fruit as early as the third minute when Javier Pastore got space on the left and laid off for Patrick Schick, whose effort took a slight deflection before crashing into the back of the net. Roma were in the driving seat within the blink of an eye, but Spurs weren't to be cowed down, and slowly clawed their way back into the game.
Some poor defending aided Tottenham's cause further. Llorente easily beat Manolas in the air for the opener after Pastore had given the ball away cheaply in his own half. Roma's (makeshift) defence was again caught off-guard for the next two goals as they allowed Moura to head free into the back of the net for Spurs' third. It was a kamikaze-like chaos at the back every time Spurs invaded the area and the Giallorossis were all over the place.
Despite a positive start, the game was well and truly over even before the half-hour mark, thanks to lackadaisical defending.