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Football, wow. What can you say after that rollercoaster of a game? After Liverpool’s remarkable 4-0 win over Barcelona last night to send them into the Champions League final, Tottenham pulled off an equally miraculous result tonight, coming from 2-0 down against Ajax – 3-0 on aggregate – to win the second leg of their semi-final tie 2-3, sending them into the final on away goals.
Early on it didn’t look like Spurs’ night as Ajax outplayed them throughout the first half, slicing their defence open to score two scarily easy goals, but things changed in the second half thanks to a ton of heart, desire – and a pretty special substitution.
Here are 3 reasons why Tottenham beat Ajax.
#1 Fernando Llorente changed the game
Despite losing the first leg 0-1, Tottenham were able to largely dominate the second half by switching to a more physical style, but that didn’t seem to be an option in the first half with an attacking duo of Lucas Moura and Heung-Min Son. Evidently, Mauricio Pochettino realised this too, and at half-time he switched Victor Wanyama for Fernando Llorente, moving essentially to a 4-3-3, and it changed the game entirely.
Suddenly, Spurs were able to hit long balls up to the big Spaniard, who absolutely dominated in the air and gave Daley Blind all kinds of trouble. In turn, Llorente was able to find his teammates with knockdowns consistently, and with the extra space that opened up, Kieran Trippier was given more room to create problems on the right-hand side of the pitch.
The momentum of the game then completely shifted, and despite Ajax having some dangerous attacks, it always felt like Tottenham were in the game. And their second and third goals both came from long balls, with the second coming via an attack from the right, too. Too many times we’ve seen Pochettino criticised this season for having no options from the bench, but tonight he made a truly game-changing substitution.
#2 Tottenham showed an insane amount of heart and desire
Sometimes in any sport it’s not all about skill levels or luck, it’s simply about heart, desire and who wants it more. In the first half tonight Tottenham were largely dominated by Ajax, and when the half-time whistle blew, most of their players looked exhausted, downhearted, or a mix of both. But thankfully for Spurs fans, it doesn’t appear to be in this current team’s DNA to throw the towel in at all.
Tottenham’s players came back onto the pitch earlier than Ajax’s and looked fired up from the off, with Danny Rose in particular showing a clear desire to turn the deficit around. And indeed, it was the England left-back that started the move that ended in Lucas Moura’s first goal. From there, Pochettino’s men absolutely took the game to Ajax, looking determined to, at worst, go down swinging. And it basically looked like the young Dutch side didn’t know how to deal with it.
It was the sheer desire that allowed Lucas to steal the ball during a goalmouth scramble and hit his second goal, but plenty of teams would’ve crumbled after it seemed like the one big chance they were after – Jan Vertonghen’s header – didn’t go in. Not Tottenham, who kept on pushing – even after a late corner failed to end in a goal – and somehow, thanks to a long ball from Moussa Sissoko and a deft flick from Dele Alli into Moura’s path, they found a way.
Apparently, whatever miracles Liverpool can pull out, Spurs can too!
#3 Ajax were unlucky
As great as this victory for Spurs was, it must be said that Ajax were a fantastic side who were largely unlucky over the two legs. Not only did they outplay Tottenham in the first half of both games, but they could’ve scored far more than they actually did, and tonight in particular saw Spurs ride their luck at times, being far too loose at the back on numerous occasions.
Not only did Ajax open them up far too easily from a set-piece for Matthijs de Ligt’s early header, with some slack marking from Kieran Trippier to blame, but Trippier and Victor Wanyama also switched off badly for Hakim Ziyech’s second. If those were Tottenham’s only defensive errors tonight then that would’ve been one thing, but Ajax also had even more chances.
Hugo Lloris had to make a couple of immense saves; Dusan Tadic flashed the ball across the goal but couldn’t quite find the net, and Ziyech also struck the post in the dramatic second-half, a moment that went largely forgotten once Moura’s hat-trick was completed. Did the better side over the two legs win this tie? Probably not, but Pochettino won’t care – sometimes you need luck in football and Spurs got it tonight.
