In general, it is a bad football strategy to go to ten men within the first ten minutes of a match. But Ange Postecoglu’s boys are simply built differently and anyway won 3-0 against Qarabağ in their opening match in the UEFA Europa League.

Any hopes Spurs fans had of a normal, convincing performance were dashed in the seventh minute by Radu Drăgușin, who picked up a well-deserved straight red card before both teams had time to settle down.

Drăgușin seemed to think he had enough space to let Mickey van de Ven’s pass go past him, but to his surprise a wild Juninho appeared. As Qarabağ’s striker advanced towards goal, Drăgușin panicked and, as the last defender, made a clumsy challenge, leaving the referee with no choice but to send him off for denying him a clear scoring opportunity.

Tottenham played with a makeshift back three for a few minutes, but Big Ange ultimately opted to replace Lucas Bergvall with Destiny Udogie in the 12th minute. A few seconds later, Spurs took the lead.

Great pressure from Pape Matar Sarr and Dominic Solanke resulted in Qarabağ’s turnover 25 meters from goal. Solanke played Brennan Johnson into the penalty area in the right channel, and Johnson scored a first-time finish into the bottom corner from 12 yards to give Tottenham an early lead.

Both teams had several half-chances over the next thirty minutes, but Qarabağ missed a huge chance just before half-time. Johnson and Archie Gray failed to track down Elvin Jafarquliyev, who broke free from a cross down the left flank and was perfectly square for Juninho. The Qarabağ attacker missed wide from 6 meters, with a big chance Opta gave 0.55 xG.

Dejan Kulusevski replaced Johnson at half-time and quickly made a positive impact with a quality set-piece. His corner in the 52nd minute went to the back post – with Ben Davies creating a very useful disturbance for the keeper – and Sarr fired home from close range to put Spurs 2-0 up.

Just two minutes later, Yves Bissouma gave away a penalty and Jafarquliyev kicked into the penalty area. But Juninho’s miserable day continued as he skied his penalty several meters over the crossbar.

That felt like the moment Qarabağ lost faith that they could claw back a point, and Spurs were generally the better side from then on, although Guglielmo Vicario did have to make a few good saves.

Solanke sealed the result in the 68th minute, tapping in a rebound reminiscent of his goal against Brentford last weekend. Davies started the move with a good long ball behind the defense that Sarr ran into, before passing to Kulusevski. He found Son, who fired a shot from the edge of the penalty area that Qarabağ goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski couldn’t handle, and Solanke was perfectly positioned to clear.

Son took a hit on the play and was immediately substituted for Timo Werner. The sub appeared to be a precaution, but Tottenham will sweat Son’s status ahead of the game against Manchester United this weekend.

In the 85th minute, Mikey Moore made his European competition debut, replacing Solanke.

Match responses

• xG from Opta with the penalty included: Tottenham 1.48 – 2.22 Qarabağ. NEVER IN DOUBT.
• Thoughts will be limited here as it is unfair to judge someone during a match with a red card in the 7th minute. Here I am, creating my first summary for the site in a decade, hoping to provide detailed observations on a bunch of guys, and then that happens. Oh well, next time.
• What can you say about Drăgușin right now, man. The man keeps screwing up. I have lost faith that he will be okay in the end. I hope he does, but I have no reason to believe he does.
• Bergvall understandably looked disappointed when he came on, and so did I. The main reason I tune into midweek cup matches is because I’m terminally Bergvallpilled. I think he’s going to be a big star for us and I want to see more of him.
• Really promising performance from Archie Gray in a tough situation. He had a few shaky moments, but there was far more good than bad, playing a man behind for more than 80 minutes. He shows that he can break the pressure by dribbling and making some long passes.
• After some wobbles against Brentford, Vicario was clear today.
• I’m feeling good on my way to Old Trafford! The first time in perhaps my entire life that this has happened.