Ludogorets 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur: 5 talking points from a comfortable win for Spurs | Europa League 2020-21
After a much better European performance than they produced last week, Tottenham Hotspur claimed a comfortable 1-3 victory over Ludogorets in Bulgaria this evening. Tottenham appeared to be far more focused from the off than they’d been in last week’s loss to Antwerp, and it didn’t take long for them to find a breakthrough.
Harry Kane headed home from a corner after 13 minutes to open the scoring for Tottenham, and then combined with Gareth Bale to give Lucas Moura an easy finish to double the lead.
Ludogorets did pull a very fortunate goal back early in the second half, but Tottenham then regained their two-goal lead on 62 minutes. Son Heung-min – who had only been introduced seconds beforehand – crossed for Giovani Lo Celso to prod home from close range.
Tottenham could’ve had more goals with some better finishing, but Jose Mourinho will be happy with the win.
With that in mind, here are five talking points from Tottenham’s win over Ludogorets.
#1 Kane scored his 200th Tottenham goal in textbook fashion
Early on in this evening’s game, it felt like it was going to be one of those awkward nights for Harry Kane. Chasing his 200th goal for Tottenham, the England captain could’ve scored inside the first minute. A wonderful chipped pass from Harry Winks put him clean through on goal, but somehow, Kane managed to sky the chance.
Moments later, his right-footed shot from range struck the post – making fans wonder if he would have to wait until the weekend’s game against West Brom to reach the milestone.
However, they need not have worried. On 13 minutes, Kane rose above Ludogorets’ defense to head home, claiming his 200th goal in Tottenham colors in just his 300th appearance.
Kane is on a simply ludicrous run of form this season. This evening’s goal was his 12th of the current campaign in just 13 appearances. Add in his contribution of 10 assists, and there might be an argument for the England captain being the best player in Europe right now.
Simply put, when Kane is on the pitch, Tottenham have a chance against any side. And weaker opponents like Ludogorets don’t stand much of a chance at all.
#2 Tottenham were far sharper this week than against Antwerp
In a fascinating interview at the weekend, Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks revealed that boss Jose Mourinho hadn’t even spoken to his players about their disappointing loss to Royal Antwerp last week. The idea that Mourinho hadn’t even brought up such a poor performance raised some eyebrows, but things were explained earlier this evening.
Apparently, Mourinho addressed the elephant in the room – that terrible performance – prior to this evening’s game, and evidently, his plan worked. To a man, Tottenham looked fired up for the game against Ludogorets, and even though the Bulgarians were far weaker than Antwerp, it was still impressive to see.
Sure, the likes of Winks, Giovani Lo Celso, and Lucas Moura didn’t always see their attempts at killer passes go to plan, but at least the effort was there. And when they did lose the ball, all of Mourinho’s men were more than willing to chase back and win possession.
It wasn’t a perfect performance this evening, but the comfortable victory should be enough to erase the memories of that Antwerp loss. If nothing else, it gives Tottenham a great platform to head into this weekend’s clash with West Brom.