Tottenham 3 Bodo/Glimt 1: Postecoglou’s selection decisions pay off, but concern over late injuries

Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes of reaching the 2025 Europa League final are intact after they defeated Bodo/Glimt 3-1 in Thursday night’s semi-final first leg.

Spurs got off to a dream start, with Yves Bissouma and Richarlison — two surprise picks by Ange Postecoglou — combining to set up Brennan Johnson with only 37 seconds on the clock. Spurs were then rewarded for a patient, mature and notably direct first-half performance with a second goal just after the half-hour mark, James Maddison latching onto a long pass from Pedro Porro and guiding the ball into the Glimt net.

The third Spurs goal was a nonchalantly taken second-half penalty from Dominic Solanke, after VAR had spied a foul on Cristian Romero by Fredrik Sjovold. But just as it looked like being a perfect evening, injuries to Maddison and Solanke were followed by a late goal from Ulrik Saltnes, which keeps the Norwegian side — just about — in the tie.

Jack Pitt-Brooke and Elias Burke dissect the key storylines from the game.

Was the shine taken off a near-perfect evening?

The energy was different. Ten minutes before kick-off, the stands were a sea of white and the noise was deafening. In the club’s biggest game of the season, the 61,327 fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium provided the impetus for the players to come out of the blocks flying.

Johnson opened the scoring after 38 seconds, their quickest home goal of the season. With the stadium still bouncing, Maddison came close to making it two minutes later.

Two goals up and dominant, the chatter at half-time was whether Spurs would go to Norway next week three or four to the good. As he did against Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals, Solanke scored from the spot to give Spurs a 3-0 lead, but that advantage was pegged back in the 82nd minute by Urik Saltnes.

Injuries to Solanke and Maddison are a definite concern and Postecoglou will be desperate to have his No 9 and primary creator (particularly in the absence of Dejan Kulusevski) fit for the second leg. Glimt are a different outfit at home and the arctic temperatures in Bodo and the artificial turf at Aspmyra Stadion will be testing.

Still, Tottenham have found inspiration with a more pragmatic style in the Europa League and, after Frankfurt, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t believe they can go to a tough venue and make it through.

Elias Burke

Postecoglou’s selection decisions pay off

In the biggest game of his Tottenham tenure, Postecoglou made two selections that made everyone gasp. With Lucas Bergvall out with an ankle injury, Bissouma came into midfield, his first start since struggling at Wolves on April 13. And on the left wing, he went for Richarlison over Mathys Tel, the Brazilian’s first start out wide since October 2023. In both cases, it felt like Postecoglou was going for power and experience over a younger, nimbler option.

No one could have expected Postecoglou to be vindicated as quickly as he was. Just over 30 seconds in, Bissouma won a ball he had no right to win. Porro whipped a cross from the right and Richarlison’s header back across goal was perfect. Brennan Johnson finished with a header of his own and Spurs were away.

Spurs kept trying to use Richarlison’s physicality down the left, although he looked rusty in front of goal a few times, unsurprisingly given how little he has played. He was withdrawn at the break for Mathys Tel, but Bissouma continued to anchor the midfield alongside Rodrigo Bentancur, giving Spurs a solid base to play a more direct, pragmatic game.

Without those two in from the start, they would have not have been able to do it quite like this.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

(Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Long balls make short work of Glimt

Long balls have felt at odds with the style Postecoglou has tried to implement at Tottenham. In fact, they have played the fewest number of long passes in the Premier League this season. In the Europa League, however, they’ve proven extremely fruitful of late.

A perfectly weighted long ball by Romero over the Eintracht Frankfurt defence towards Maddison was how Spurs engineered the only goal at Deutsche Bank Park, with goalkeeper Kaua Santos taking out the 28-year-old to set up Solanke’s penalty. They came close to breaking through Glimt’s defence for the second time in precisely the same manner in the sixth minute, with the Argentinian finding Maddison’s third-man run, but his volley on the stretch flew over the crossbar.

Glimt failed to heed the warning signs, with Maddison scoring his third Europa League goal of the season owing to a pinpoint long pass from defence. This time, Porro was the architect, drilling a 40-yard pass over the Glimt defensive line and into Maddison’s path, who took the ball down slightly away from goal.

Maddison controls Porro’s searching ball (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

With Glimt goalkeeper Nikita Khaikin closing the angle, Maddison bounced a right-footed effort past the ’keeper and into the net.

Elias Burke

What did Ange Postecoglou say?

Speaking to TNT Sports after the game, the Tottenham boss was delighted with his side’s display and not too concerned about the late concession.

“I still walk away from the game (pleased) in terms of the performance. When we played Frankfurt here, I thought we were three or four goals better than them and it ended up one-all. But the performance gave us confidence to go to Frankfurt and get a result there and I think the boys will feel the same today. We’ll go there and we won’t just defend. If we play the same way we did today, we’ll get the result we need.”

In his press conference, Postecoglou praised the performances of Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur in midfield. “I thought Biss and Rodri were outstanding. They were really key for us today. The beauty of Lucas is that he fills that sort of role really well from a defensive point of view and the reason I put Biss in there today, I knew that we were going to need that from him, the way Bodo set up and their ability to try and gain momentum as they build up their play. I thought him and Rodri were going to be key for us stemming that, and that’s how it proved.

“I thought Biss was brilliant. Look, he’s had an up and down year like all of us, but I’ve still got full belief in him and full confidence that on a day like today he could do a really good job for us and I thought he was outstanding.”

Postecoglou also dismissed concerns about Bodo/Glimt’s artifical pitch, saying “Yeah, look it is on artificial grass but it’s still a game of football. I’ve been there, played there with Celtic, I know the experience and what is important for us is we need to replicate what we did today. Irrespective of the surface, if we’re as disciplined and as organised as we were today, with and without the ball, it won’t matter what the surface is, I think it will make it really difficult for us to be stopped.”

What next for Tottenham?

Sunday, May 4: West Ham (Away), Premier League, 2pm UK, 9am ET

(Top photo: Getty Images)

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