Tottenham Hotspur made no mistake in the first leg of the eighth final of the Europa League. Under the leadership of referee Serdar Gözübüyük, the men of manager José Mourinho won convincingly from Dinamo Zagreb thanks to two goals by Harry Kane: 2-0. Steven Bergwijn was allowed to fill in for the first time in four games the Spurs, who have a wonderful home average this season in a European context of nineteen goals for, zero against. In the other match, AS Roma took a giant step towards the next round by beating Shakhtar Donetsk with big figures: 3-0.
Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Tottenham took the initiative firmly from the start and managed to take the lead in the 25th minute. Erik Lamela threatenedly dribbled into the penalty area, put an opponent in front with a false kick and hit the post with the right. The ball was fortunate to Harry Kane, who had the ball for the typing: 1-0. Dinamo became dangerous once in the first half via a quick counterattack. Luka Ivanusec returned the ball to Bruno Petkovic on the right, who found goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in his path from inside the penalty area.
Steven Bergwijn gets half an hour from Jose Mourinho and almost scores with his first touch! What a wonderful pass from Gareth Bale. ?? # rtl7 #totdzg #UEL pic.twitter.com/jeQY7FRum3
– VTBL? (@vtbl) March 11, 2021
Fifteen minutes after the break, Petkovic had an even greater chance of the equalizer, but this time the Dinamo striker hit the side netting. Mourinho then brought in Gareth Bale and Bergwijn, who together immediately created a wonderful opportunity. Bale crossed with the outside left, after which Bergwijn bumped into goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic at the far post. A few minutes later it was still hit for Tottenham. Kevin Theophile-Catherine dramatically cleared a low cross from Serge Aurier, allowing Kane to shoot in the choked ball from close range: 2-0. Bale then saw a nice free kick from a great distance by Livakovic. In injury time Bergwijn put down another ball ready for Bale, who tapped just wide at the far post.
AS Roma 3-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
With Rick Karsdorp in the starting line-up and Henrikh Mkhitaryan as the false number nine due to fitness problems at Edin Dzeko, Roma took the lead halfway through the first half. Pedro made his way to Shakhtar’s half and sent a through ball to Lorenzo Pellegrini, who deftly pushed the ball into the short corner. Until that moment, Roma had been threatening several times, but after the 1-0, Júnior Moraes almost scored the equalizer from close by. For Roma, Mkhitaryan’s failure was a blemish on the first half: the attacker sustained a calf injury while attempting to bounce the ball over keeper Anatoliy Trubin and had to be replaced.
In the second half, Roma looked sloppier and Shakhtar performed better. For example, Júnior Moraes almost scored the 1-1 halfway through the second half, when he bumped into goalkeeper Pau López after good preparatory work by Ismaily. It was therefore somewhat surprising that Roma still won the match, and possibly the diptych. Ismaily’s loss of possession led to a quick switch of the home team seventeen minutes before the end and substitute Stephan El Shaarawy served as the final station with a marker. A few minutes later, Gianluca Mancini determined the final score, by hitting a header after a corner extended by Bryan Cristante.