Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 Wolfsberger AC: 5 talking points as Spurs reach the last 16 | Europa League 2020-21
Tottenham Hotspur brushed aside Wolfsberger AC in North London this evening to comfortably qualify for the Europa League’s Round of 16.
Goals from Dele Alli and Gareth Bale, as well as a brace from Carlos Vinicius, gave Tottenham a 4-0 win on the night and an 8-1 victory on aggregate.
The scoring started in spectacular fashion through Alli, who pulled off an unbelievable overhead kick following a slick team move. Vinicius then had a shot cleared off the line before Alli set him up for a goal in the second half.
A wonderfully taken left-footed goal from Bale and then a second for Vinicius sealed the match for Tottenham, with Wolfsberger – as they were last week – being thoroughly outclassed.
Here are five talking points from Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Wolfsberger AC.
#1 Dele Alli looked back to his best
With plenty of questions still swirling around his future at Tottenham, Dele Alli had the spotlight on him tonight as he was chosen to start the game.
But if he was feeling any pressure, the England international certainly didn’t show it. Alli enjoyed his best match for a long time – probably dating back to the early days of Jose Mourinho’s reign at Tottenham – and ended with a goal and two assists to his name.
Obviously his goal will be the major talking point – it was absolutely spectacular, an overhead kick to end a move that Alli himself started. It quite rightly will end up being seen as one of the best Tottenham goals of 2020-21.
However, as Mourinho made sure to point out in his post-game interview, equally impressive were Alli’s assists and overall workrate.
The passes he played for goals from Carlos Vinicius and Gareth Bale were pinpoint. And everything from his movement to his slightly petulant attitude were reminiscent of the Alli that Spurs fans fell in love with half a decade ago.
Whether this performance is now parlayed into a Premier League start against Burnley remains to be seen, but if Alli is truly back to his best, it’ll be hard to leave him out.
#2 Wolfsberger AC failed miserably to test Tottenham’s defence
Tottenham’s defensive issues have been a massive talking point in recent weeks, with practically every member of their backline coming in for criticism at times.
Well, if Jose Mourinho was expecting Wolfsberger to test his defence tonight, he would’ve been sorely disappointed.
The Austrian team were absolutely woeful going forward, offering little more than the odd decent move ending in a weak shot. In fact, the match ended with them having just three shots on target, failing to even remotely test goalkeeper Joe Hart.
With that in mind, question marks remain over Tottenham’s backline even after a big win like this. Burnley aren’t the greatest attacking team either, but Sunday’s Premier League clash will undoubtedly provide Spurs with a trickier test.
Simply put, Wolfsberger were pretty awful tonight.