Wednesday, February 24, 2021 at 7:47 PM• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk • Last update: 19:53

Tottenham Hotspur has qualified for the eighth finals of the Europa League as expected. Six days after the 1-4 victory over Wolfsberger AC, the reunion at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ended in 4-0 for the team of manager José Mourinho. The Portuguese changed his team in no less than nine places compared to the team that lost 2-1 to West Ham United last Sunday. Only Eric Dier and Erik Lamela appeared again at the starting signal and Steven Bergwijn made his return in the starting eleven.

Mourinho could be satisfied with Tottenham’s first half, although a broader halftime score than 1-0 would not have been undeserved. The home team only needed ten minutes to take the lead and did it in a wonderful way. Dele Alli carefully picked a cross from Matt Doherty out of the air and his second touch was even better: a bicycle kick à la Olivier Giroud to which goalkeeper Manuel Kuttin had no answer: 1-0.

Bergwijn and Carlos Vinicius kept Wolfsberger’s defense busy for the remainder of the first half. Bergwijn’s first attempt was blocked in time and Kuttin saved his shot just before half-time. The best chance was for Vinicius a minute earlier: the Brazilian got the ball from Lamela, passed Wolfsberger’s goalkeeper, but in the end it was Gustav Henriksson who was able to turn the Brazilian’s bet in the goal mouth.

Vinicius scored a few minutes after the break. Alli sent the ball from the left to the far post, where the attacker headed the ball behind Kuttin with a bounce: 2-0. For Bergwijn, the game was over after 69 minutes; he was replaced by Lucas Moura. A few minutes later, Alli was again involved in a goal. The splitting pass of the playmaker straight through the Austrian defense was curled brilliantly and hard in the top left corner by the substitute for Lamela: 3-0.

Alli was replaced eight minutes before the end by sixteen-year-old Dane Scarlett, who laid the basis for the 4-0 in his third game for Tottenham. He put good pressure on the defense, captured the ball and Vinicius determined the final score from close range. Mourinho granted Marcel Lavernier and Nile John their first minutes in the main force as a substitute in the final phase. Tottenham’s next game is next Sunday: a home game with Burnley.