Tottenham 3 Elfsborg 0: Academy talents shine but Dragusin suffers injury blow

New York Times

30-01-2025

A direct route to the Europa League knockout phase secured and three goals for academy graduates.
This was one of Tottenham's better nights compared to recent weeks, with second-half goals from Dane Scarlett, Damola Ajayi and Mikey Moore breaking the resistance of a stubborn Elfsborg side and ensuring a place in the top eight of the league phase.
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It wasn't an entirely satisfactory evening, with more injury concerns besetting Ange Postecoglou, but after the awful weekend defeat to Leicester, this represented welcome relief.
We discuss the main talking points.
The fact all three of Tottenham's goals were scored by academy graduates made this apparently routine win feel special for Spurs fans.
Scarlett only came onto the pitch in the 66th minute due to Dragusin suffering a nasty-looking knee injury. With limited defensive options on the bench, Postecoglou retooled the team and threw on Scarlett at centre-forward while Pape Matar Sarr dropped to left-back and Dejan Kulusevski moved to central midfield. It has been a strange month for Scarlett, but he ended up making the crucial intervention.
At the beginning of January, the 20-year-old was struggling for minutes on loan at second-tier side Oxford United. When Spurs recalled him a couple of weeks ago, the plan was to send him back out on loan to another team for regular game time.
Postecoglou could have thrown on 20-year-old striker Will Lankshear, who scored against Galatasaray in November, but he decided to give Scarlett a chance and within five minutes, the gamble had paid off. Kulusevski whipped a cross into the box and Scarlett ghosted in between the two centre-backs before crashing a header past Elfsborg's goalkeeper, Isak Pettersson. The entire stadium started chanting his name in celebration.
The problem for Scarlett is that he was quickly upstaged by his team-mate Ajayi. Ajayi replaced Richarlison with around 10 minutes to go and moved to the right wing. He was making his debut but did not look overawed when he received the ball by the touchline. Instead, Ajayi danced past a couple of defenders, drove towards the box and fired a left-footed shot into the bottom corner.
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Postecoglou grinned with delight, while Djed Spence, who was watching from the bench, put his hands on his head in disbelief. There were only three minutes and 39 seconds between Ajayi coming onto the pitch and scoring.
To cap off a perfect evening, Moore, the crown jewel of Tottenham's young stars, scored his first professional goal deep into stoppage time.
Tottenham have experienced a difficult few weeks, but their young stars put a smile on everybody's faces on Thursday evening.
UK viewers watch here:
Dane Scarlett scores for Tottenham four minutes after coming off the bench!
Instant impact 💥
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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 30, 2025
Damola Ajayi's first-ever Tottenham goal sends them into the last 16!
That's two Spurs academy graduates on the scoresheet tonight 🌟
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/xoFQ9ZjuVi
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 30, 2025
A SPECIAL individual goal from Mikey Moore seals the victory for Spurs ✨
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/Mcf9QEdiYf
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 30, 2025
Another injury was the last thing Postecoglou needed, but, such is Tottenham's fortune at the moment, there was no great sense of surprise when Dragusin crumpled to the turf in the second half.
The Romania international, on as a half-time substitute, was contesting for a ball in the air with Jalal Abdullai by the touchline. Dragusin was off balance and swung his right leg at the ball in an attempt to prevent it from going out of play. When Dragusin planted his right foot on the floor, he immediately jumped in pain and clutched his right knee.
The 22-year-old signalled to the bench that he needed to come off before dropping to the floor while Postecoglou covered his mouth in shock. Hopefully, it is nothing too serious, but the way he reacted suggested he was in a lot of discomfort.
Dragusin has started Tottenham's last 14 games in all competitions while Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero have been injured. Postecoglou revealed on Wednesday that Romero's return to full fitness is a 'slow burner' and 'he is not on the horizon at the moment'. It means Archie Gray and Ben Davies can expect to play more minutes at centre-back as Van de Ven is eased back into action while Romero and Dragusin watch from the sidelines.
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Dragusin's performances have been mixed this season, but he deserves credit for filling in and doing his best with a rotating cast of team-mates in defence. Dragusin has suffered due to the lack of consistency around him. Maybe with Van de Ven back in the team, he could have shown his best form, but it appears that opportunity has been snatched away from him.
As one centre-back departed, another one returned.
The entire stadium roared when Van de Ven's name was read out over the PA system before kick-off, his first appearance since the 4-3 defeat to Chelsea on December 8 due to a hamstring injury. That game in itself marked his return from five weeks out with a similar issue. It means Spurs have had to cope without arguably their best defender for the majority of the past three months.
One of Van de Ven's biggest assets is his recovery speed, but fortunately, there were not too many occasions when he was forced to stretch his legs chasing after Elfsborg's strikers. Spurs dominated possession and Van de Ven stayed on the halfway line before occasionally venturing forward to snap into a challenge.
Van de Ven's incredible speed and love for slide tackles means it is easy to forget how good he is in possession. The Netherlands international lofted a beautiful pass over the head of Elfsborg's wing-back Simon Hedlund and straight into the path of Son Heung-min in the 30th minute. Son then fired a cross into the box and Richarlison's header was blocked.
Van de Ven's leadership skills were on display, too, as he tried to coach Lucas Bergvall at different points in the game. Bergvall was guilty of being overzealous on the ball in the first half and at one stage he was told to calm down by Postecoglou, too.
A lot of Tottenham's players have suffered setbacks in their recoveries from injury this season, so it was the right call to replace Van de Ven with Dragusin at half-time, even if the Romanian did not last long before suffering his own fitness concern.
Van de Ven will hope he can play more significant minutes in Sunday's match against Brentford, which will put him in a good position for next week's crucial Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool.
Sunday, February 2: Brentford (away), Premier League, 2pm UK time, 9am ET