Tottenham have it all to do in the second leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie against AZ Alkmaar following a 1-0 defeat in the Netherlands on Thursday evening. Seeing Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Dominic Solanke return to the matchday squad following their time in the treatment room, Ange Postecoglou elected against starting the trio at AFAS Stadion.
Djed Spence did come back into the team in place of Pedro Porro, with Son Heung-min replacing Wilson Odobert on the left-wing. AZ did start brightly and duly took the lead on 18 minutes courtesy of a Lucas Bergvall own goal after he got a clearance all wrong and it looped into Guglielmo Vicario's goal.
Vicario was then needed on 30 minutes as he produced a key save to stop former Tottenham man Troy Parrott from doubling the Dutch side's lead, before doing likewise shortly after the break just as Ernest Poku looked set to find the bottom corner. Tottenham did have a couple of chances after the break but Odobert headed over their best opportunity late in stoppage time.
Here are five things we spotted in the game in Alkmaar:
Cautious approach
Postecoglou's team selection in Alkmaar was always going to be a talking point with Romero, Van de Ven and Solanke available for selection once again. Amid Spurs fans hoping for the key trio to start from the off in the Europa League, the head coach resisted the temptation and instead named them on the bench.
Going on Romero and Van de Ven's season to date with both making an earlier comeback before and subsequently returning to the treatment room, you can understand why Postecoglou was perhaps cautious about throwing the duo in at the deep end at the first opportunity. Instead, it was Kevin Danso and Archie Gray who continued at the heart of defence.
Electing against introducing Solanke at the break as Mathys Tel made way, the striker did come on in the final 20 minutes of the game as he took the place of Son. Bournemouth are up next for Spurs on Sunday and once again all eyes will be on team news to see if Romero, Van de Ven and Solanke return to the starting XI in the Premier League.
Bergvall apology
There was one moment inside the opening couple of minutes where it appeared that Bergvall was about to receive a yellow card. Going into the AZ match on two cautions and one booking away from a one-match European ban, the referee halted play after the midfielder had caught fellow Swede Mayckel Lahdo.
There was no intention from Bergvall at all and it was purely accidental but he did make contact with the AZ man's ankle as his opponent just nipped in to win the ball as Tottenham's No.15 was looking to play a crossfield ball to Son. Checking on his compatriot as he received treatment, Bergvall then turned back and went over to Lahdo once again moments later when he went to ground as he was unable to continue.
He quite clearly wanted to apologise to the attacker and he could be seen slapping hands with him as he made his way off the pitch. It was an unfortunate one for the 22-year-old but thankfully Bergvall got away with a booking on that occasion.
Come the full-time whistle, Bergvall could be seen apologising to the travelling Tottenham fans for his own goal as he held both hands out and then put them together by his chest.
Partnership rekindled
It came as no surprise at all to see Spence come back into the Tottenham XI after dropping down to the bench last time out against Manchester City. The full-back was missed during the game and he did make an impact down the left after entering play midway inside the second half.
It was on the right where Spence started against AZ, though. That meant the former England Under-21s international started behind Brennan Johnson in a very attacking right flank.
The duo were utilised down Nottingham Forest's right in their Premier League promotion campaign in 2021/22 and they proved to be a devastating pair going forward. Despite forming a strong partnership at the City Ground, we have seen very little of the two players together at Tottenham due to Spence's lack of football in N17 and also because he has mainly played from the left under Postecoglou.
Well, they got their chance together at the AFAS Stadion on Thursday evening and linked up well on a few occasions, including on 23 minutes when they played a one-two but AZ goalkeeper Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro cut out the full-back's cross at the front post. They did later team up just prior to half-time as Spence won a header on the edge of the AZ box that allowed Johnson to get a shot away on goal that unfortunately flew over the crossbar.
As Spence switched over to the left later in the game, we may not see that much of the players together down the same side of the pitch in Postecoglou's team.
Ange's moment with the fourth official
Trailing to Bergvall's own goal in the 18th minute of the game, Spurs started to up the pressure but AZ still had chances of their own as they looked to double their lead. On one Spurs foray forward, James Maddison did so well to win a free-kick after having Peer Koopmeiners at his heels from his own half of the pitch.
The Dutchman had initially grabbed a good chunk of the Tottenham man's shirt and pulled him back but Maddison managed to put on the afterburners and get away from him as he drove towards the AZ box. He then produced a nice turn to get the better of the midfielder and duly win a free-kick on the edge of the area.
Keen to get his point across to the match officials, Postecoglou could be seen grabbing the side of the fourth official's coat to show what happened to Maddison. Despite the blatant shirt pull and the foul on the edge of the area, Koopmeiners went without a yellow card.
It probably is best to not mention what happened next as Maddison and Son tried to make the free-kick count.
Bentancur blow
Rodrigo Bentancur will play no part in the round of 16 second leg tie against AZ Alkmaar after earning his third booking of the Europa League campaign. One of a handful of Tottenham players going into the game walking the disciplinary tightrope after obtaining two cautions in the league phase, Bentancur was shown a yellow card for a foul on Parrott on the hour mark.
The Uruguayan was not happy about the decision and Maddison grabbed hold of him as he tried to make his feelings clear to the referee. Bentancur will be a big miss but it does open the door for one of Pape Matar Sarr or Yves Bissouma to come back into the side after taking their place on the bench in recent weeks.
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