Ange Postecoglou sends message to Lucas Bergvall over early substitution in Tottenham win over Qarabag

Evening Standard

·26 September 2024

Ange Postecoglou sends message to Lucas Bergvall over early substitution in Tottenham win over Qarabag

Radu Dragusin’s red card forced an early change and Bergvall was the one to pay the price

Ange Postecoglou told Lucas Bergvall he will get “plenty of opportunities” after a frustrating night for the Tottenham teenager.

OneFootball Videos

Bergvall was named in the starting lineup for Spurs’ Europa League clash at home to Qarabag, but was the man sacrificed when Radu Dragusin was sent off inside ten minutes for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Destiny Udogie came on at left-back as Ben Davies shifted into the middle and Postecoglou opted to bring Bergvall off, with the 18-year-old looking hugely dejected on the bench.

While the midfielder’s second start for Spurs ended prematurely, Postecoglou insisted there will be no shortage of chances for him to impress throughout the season.

“That’s football,” the Spurs boss told TNT Sports. “He’s 18, he’ll get plenty more games.

“It’s a decision we had to make. We needed an extra midfielder in there to make sure we had cover, and we needed to bring a left-back on in Destiny.

“Just an adjustment we needed to make, nothing on Lucas. He’ll get plenty of opportunities.”

Despite being put immediately on the back-foot by that Dragusin red card, Spurs responded impressively to ensure they did not slip up in their first Europa League match of the season, one that was delayed by 35 minutes due to severe travel problems ahead of kick-off. Qarabag did not arrive at the ground until 7:45pm, 15 minutes before the game was due to start.

Brennan Johnson scored his third goal in as many games to open the scoring, before Pape Matar Sarr doubled the lead after the break and Dominic Solanke then put the result beyond doubt, after Toral Bayramov had missed a penalty for Qarabag.

Despite his side getting the job done in difficult circumstances, Postecoglou was left frustrated by the manner in which his side began the match.

“I wasn’t happy because I just felt we started really sloppy,” he said.

“We spoke really about making sure we started high-tempo, high-intensity. It’s almost like the delay got to us or whatever.

“Leading up to [the red card] we were very passive in our passing. When that happens, somebody switches off and unfortunately Radu had to pay the price of that.

“The reaction after that was good and we still won the game, but not happy with the start.”