With the North London derby defeat still plaguing the mind, Nuno had to field a strong-minded starting eleven against Mura in the Conference League, with a response crucial for both the club and fans.
Dele was granted his first start in Europe this season, making his fiftieth European appearance of his fluctuating career and even wearing the captain’s armband.
Dubbed ‘phenomenal’ by former manager, Jose Mourinho, Dane Scarlett started up front for Tottenham, showing the advantages of this competition in the development of academy players. After an impressive pre-season, Nuno opted to play the youngster to develop his experience at a top, professional level.
Much to the delight of Spurs fans, the Lilywhites started very well. A messy defensive period for NS Mura resulted in a penalty being awarded for the home side, won by Dele.
Alli, following an unfortunate ricochet off, took advantage of a dubious piece of goalkeeping and won the spot-kick after being clipped by Croatian, Obradovic. The midfielder slotted his well-earned penalty away and ensured the perfect start for Nuno’s men.
Tottenham’s excellent pressing was met with another goal, this time a brilliant finish by Giovani Lo Celso. A great piece of footwork from the Argentinian allowed him to breeze past the Mura defence and fire a thunderous strike into the roof of the net. A great start for Spurs.
A lull period followed, Spurs’ firepower dissolved after their second goal and the Slovenians were able to get back into the game, stringing a few passes together, something they were unable to do at the start of the match.
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Alarm bells were raised when a diving header from striker, Mulahusejnovic, narrowly went wide following poor defending down the Spurs right.
Nuno became concerned with Spurs’ lacklustre stance for the rest of the first half, with the only real chance coming from a Dele strike from the edge of the box which forced a good save from the Mura keeper.
The half-time whistle sounded to disrupt a seemingly uneventful period of football. Nuno had a key team talk on his hands as Spurs’ two-goal cushion was not in the strongest position, especially near the end of the opening 45 minutes.
However, it was the Slovenian side who took to their managers words the most as they grabbed a goal back seven minutes into the second half. A fantastic volley from right-back, Ziga Kous flew past Gollini in the Spurs goal, stunning the home crowd into silence.
Nuno’s reaction to this goal was bold. The trio of Kane, Son and Moura were introduced to the delight of the Spurs fans. But at what cost?
With Dele Alli being one of those omitted, the midfielder walked straight down the tunnel, perhaps showing his sheer frustration at the manager’s decision.
Despite Dele’s frustration, Nuno’s tactical change worked impeccably. Harry Kane scored a 29-minute hat-trick to steer Spurs to a comfortable three points in North London.
The pace and urgency of Moura and Son allowed a free-roaming Lo Celso to become a creative spark in the middle, threading balls through which set the attackers on their way to goal.
In what was a somewhat comfortable evening for Spurs, it was a much-needed response from a hat-trick of 3-0 defeats in the Premier League.
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