We all know how important momentum is in football, but surely one eye – or even two – will be on recording back-to-back wins over city rivals after Sunday’s emphatic win over West Ham. A Harry Kane brace and goals from Toby Alderweireld and Kyle Walker gave Spurs a supremely comfortable victory, while Manuel Lanzini added a late consolation for the Hammers at the end.
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Spurs head back to England ahead of Sunday’s Premier League derby with champion Chelsea in good spirits, with Pochettino delighted to see his strong team selection pay dividends.
It is his ninth goal in his last six games, having made a slow start to the first few games of the season.
Harry Kane fired Tottenham into the knockout stages of the Europa League as they finally overcame stubborn Group J minnows Qarabag 1-0 in Baku. They play Tuesday, we play Thursday, and I think (Chelsea manager) Jose Mourinho will agree that he has a little advantage to prepare for the game.
“We need more help from our country and the Premier League”, Pochettino said.
Qarabag keeper Ibrahim Sehic pulled off a magnificent save four minutes later to push an effort from Son Heung-Min onto the crossbar.
The hosts were intent on sitting deep and keeping men behind the ball, but they spurned a glorious in first-half stoppage time when a two-against-one break ended with Dani Quintana firing too close to Hugo Lloris. But they impressed in spells in the reverse fixture, taking an early lead before Spurs triumphed 3-1 at the Lane.
Jermaine Jenas predicted on the UEFA Europa League Highlights show on BT Sport Europe on Thursday evening that Tottenham Hotspur will win against Chelsea this weekend.
“We have a strong squad and a strong mentality, with the maturity”.
Celtic coach Ronny Deila pleaded for patience and that European success will come.
In Group C Krasnodar beat Borussia Dortmund 1-0 thanks to Pavel Mamaev’s second-minute penalty, but both sides were already through.
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Spurs have not lost since the opening day of the season, a 1-0 loss at Manchester United, and have slowly been climbing up the table. Ivan Cavaleiro’s equaliser to seal a 1-1 draw for Monaco in the previous match was the first Europa League goal Gurbanov’s team have conceded on their own patch this term.
