Ange Postecoglou had spoken about how much Tottenham felt their absence from European competition last season – a “real hole in our calendar”, as the manager put it. And what was another 35 minute wait?

It was a night of transport chaos around the stadium, land trains suspended, roads blocked and kick-off delayed. It set the tone for a wild draw against Qarabag, Tottenham’s Europa League curtain-raiser with a red card for their centre-back Radu Dragusin inside seven minutes and numerous shaves in front of goal. How did they manage to keep a clean sheet? Guglielmo Vicario was a big part of the reason.

Spurs made their punches count at the other end and when Dominic Solanke made it 3-0 in the 68th minute they were able to cruise to victory. That’s not a sentence that fits with much of what had happened before.

However, Brennan Johnson scored three goals in three games with the opener and Pape Sarr got the second, allowing the club’s fans to enjoy an entertaining occasion. It will be a long road to the final in Bilbao. The Spurs are on the rise.

The Qarabag bus was stuck in heavy traffic after setting off from the team hotel in Stratford – just 12 miles away, barely the Baku beyond. The Azerbaijan champions didn’t arrive at the stadium until 7:45 p.m., far from ideal for them. Or Spurs.

“Imagine being stuck in traffic for more than two and a half hours,” says Gurban Gurbanov, Qarabag’s manager. “There were no police to escort us and when we arrived we were told to start in 40 minutes. It is clear that this has had a major impact on us.”

There were early mistakes on both sides, huge mistakes, starting with Dragusin being sent off after inexplicably letting the ball get away from him as the last man as Juninho applied the pressure. Dragusin found himself in trouble when he was robbed by the Qarabag attacker, who threatened to run clear on goal. When Dragusin pulled Juninho’s pants, referee Willy Delajod knew what he had to do.

Tottenham did not let themselves be deterred. Postecoglou brought on Destiny Udogie at left-back (the hapless Lucas Bergvall withdrew from midfield) to reshape the back four, albeit one that would never play as such. It’s not Postecoglou’s style. Archie Gray continued to impose himself from right back. Udogie did the same. Ben Davies ran onto the pitch with the ball at his feet from his new position as left centre-back.

It said a lot about Spurs that after Dragusin’s dismissal and while Udogie warmed up, they continued to play with ten men for quite some time. They didn’t clear the ball. They might even lose it at some point playing with fire. Tottenham would do that plenty, the examples are numerous.

Spurs’ breakthrough came immediately after Udogie’s switch to Bergvall and it was a personal disaster for Qarabag’s defensive midfielder Júlio Romão. Spurs applied an aggressive press and Ramão turned into Solanke, who advanced before playing on the overlap into Johnson. The first finish was low and true.

Johnson might have scored again when he latched onto a long ball from Gray and evaded goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski, who had made a rash break from his line. Johnson rolled wide of the empty net. But the rest of the first half was a story of Spurs taking risks at the back and getting away with it, leaving themselves with men against the Qarabag counter, backing themselves to recover.

Toral Bayramov unleashed an air kick under pressure from Udogie after going through and no one could understand how Juninho rolled wide of the far post after Elvin Jafarguliyev’s cross when he was unmarked in front of goal. Patrick Andrade shot wildly when he was well placed and there was also the moment when Juninho robbed Davies and Spurs needed Vicario to leave his line and make a saving one-on-one tackle.

Postecoglou introduced Dejan Kulusevski for Johnson at half-time and it was the Swedish winger whose inswinging corner set up the second goal. Kochalski came and flapped under minimal pressure – he was more hampered by one of his own players – and Sarr formed a nice connection on the volley, too sweet for Andrade on the line.

Spurs were in no mood to make things simple. Wasn’t it an idea that they should defend themselves well? Yves Bissouma conceded a penalty with a clumsy challenge on Jafarguliyev, sending Bayramov flying high and giving Qarabag a handful of chances, especially after forcing turnovers. Their finish was dismal.

Spurs did not feel safe at 2-0, but Solanke, denied by Kochalski after 58 minutes, allowed them to breathe easier. It wasn’t the first time Kochalski wobbled and tipped Son Heung-min’s shot straight at Solanke. It was a touch before rush hour.

Jafarguliyev saw Vicario tap away his shot from the top corner and when Juninho finally had the ball in the net, the offside flag had to be raised. Qarabag could have played all night and not scored.