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Tottenham Hotspurs traveled to Amsterdam for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final in the hope of overturning a 1-0 deficit in the first leg and they did just that as they beat Ajax 3-2 and went through on away goals. For Ajax, the goals were scored by Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech. For Tottenham, Lucas Moura scored a match-winning hat-trick.
In the first half, Ajax started brilliantly and they drew first blood through their captain, de Ligt who headed it in from a corner. Spurs, on the other hand, had a few chances in the first half but they weren't able to get that decisive touch in front of goal.
Ajax soon led 2-0 after a brilliant strike from Ziyech who beat Hugo Lloris. The first half ended with Ajax on top and it looked like the match was done. But Spurs in the second half came out with a different mindset. Fernando Llorente came on for Victor Wanyama and that made a huge difference.
Moura soon struck the first goal for Spurs and he followed that up with the second goal just after five minutes. Spurs then were giving their all to find the winning goal and they got it late into extra time. It was the man of the match, Moura, who struck again to make it 3-3 on aggregate.
Spurs the held on and progressed into the finals, making it an all English one. In this slideshow, we take a look at the three tactics from Pochettino that won them the game.
#3 Dropping Eriksen deep and playing Dele further upfield in the second half
In the first half of the match, Tottenham started with Victor Wanyama and Moussa Sissoko at the base but Ajax seemed to have it all under control as Spurs were finding it difficult to involve both Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen in the game.
But in the second half, Pochettino substituted Wanyama and brought on Llorente. He put Alli further up, while Eriksen played the role of a deep-lying playmaker. That move worked wonders as Spurs immediately got the Dane midfielder on the ball and he started creating for the away side.
As for Alli, he started to play in between the lines and got two assists in the game. Pochettino got his tactics spot on, especially in the second half.
#2 Introducing Fernando Llorente in the second half
What a masterstroke move this was from Pochettino. In the first half, Spurs didn't have a target man up front and therefore, they couldn't play direct football. They had built their attacks from the back but when you are 3-0 on aggregate, you need to start getting the ball into dangerous areas.
So, Pochettino decided to put on Llorente in place of Wanyama to offer that aerial presence and it was a success. Llorente was winning almost every aerial duel and the likes of Alli, Son Heung-Min, and Lucas Moura were preying on the second ball.
Llorente was involved in almost every goal that Spurs scored on the day and this is the second time in the Champions League where the Spaniard has stepped up and made himself count. With this performance, he might have booked his place in the starting XI of the Champions League final in Madrid.
#1 Giving Lucas Moura a free role in the middle
As stated previously, Spurs were finding it difficult to involve both Son and Moura in the first half. However in the second half, as soon as Llorente came on, Son shifted to the left, while Moura played free role, almost as a right forward alongside Llorente.
Lucas Moura put in a match-winning performance and that was down to his hard work and tenacity. His first goal was a clear example of his free role as Alli found Moura making a run through the middle and the Brazilian finished it off to get Spurs back in the game.
His second was the testament of his poaching skills as Llorente's effort was saved by Andre Onana, and the ball found its way to Moura who created space and took the shot with his left foot to make it 2-2 on the day. His third was much similar to the first as Moura was picked out in space in the middle by Alli and the Brazilian finished it perfectly again with his left foot and took Spurs into the finals.
