Action Packed European Encounter to Kick-off Conte's Reign

Thursday 4th November 2021

Match Report

Tottenham Hotspur 3 – 2 SBV Vitesse

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

Competition: Europa Conference League Group G

"Pre-Match Thoughts – Despite Paratici attending the pre-match press conference, Conte's work permit cleared in time for him to take charge against Vitesse. He stated in his first interview that he's aiming to bring attractive football and passion to Tottenham Hotspur. That'll be music to fans' ears, and although it's very early days, they'll be hoping to see an instant impact tonight. It'll be interesting to see the side Conte selects, but whoever's chosen will certainly have a point to prove to their new manager.

Dutch minnows Vitesse deservedly beat us in the Netherlands two weeks ago. Tonight I'm predicting a rejuvenated Spurs to kick-off Conte's campaign with a 4-0 win."

Conte went with a 3-4-3 formation, a slight variation of the 3-5-2 he's known for. The only change from the side that started against United was Reguilón replacing Lo Celso. This came as a result of Davies slotting in as a third centre back that allowed Reguilón and Royal to be deployed as wing-backs.

Conte's name was announced over the tannoy following the confirmed line-ups, and received a rapturous applause welcoming him to the club.

It was a loud and lively start, with Son breaking through and squeezing a shot under the goalkeeper, but a Vitesse player managed to clear off the line.

Play went straight up the other end, and Davies' excitement should have led to a Vitesse penalty – He dived in at the top of the area, and was lucky the ref waved away the protests for a penalty.

Just inside the 15 minute mark, Højbjerg bustled his way through midfield and found a pass into Moura on the edge of the area. Moura turned and shot but his effort was saved, the keeper swiped the rebound out of Kane's path and into Son's, who side footed from a tight angle across goal into the far corner. 1-0.

Five minutes later Son deserved another – He showed exceptional footwork down the left side of the area to beat a man and get a shot away which crashed against the post.

Spurs' second arrived shortly after – Moura flicked a pass around a Vitesse player into the feet of Kane and raced forward to receive the return. Kane took a touch before releasing him through on goal, the Brazilian carried it forward and passed it under the keeper into the net. 2-0.

They made it three by the half hour mark – Dier played into Son, who found Reguilón on the left wing, he played it first time inside to the overlapping Ben Davies, who found himself in an unlikely position in front of goal by the six yard box. Somewhat unsurprisingly, he scuffed his shot, but it fell into the path of Kane. Kane lunged to push it over the line as a sliding Vitesse defender desperately tried to keep it out, but in doing so he could only carry it over his own line. 3-0, and Spurs were cruising.

However soon after, Rasmussen, who'd just scored the own goal, went and scored one at the right end – A corner came in and he was too strong for Dier, beating him to the header and finding the bottom left corner. 3-1.

In the 39th minute Vitesse got another one back – Moura gave the ball away down the left side, Romero came over to cover for Royal, but the Vitesse winger pulled it back to a teammate inside the box, who struck first time across goal, through Dier's legs and into the bottom left corner. 3-2.

"Thoughts at Half-Time – A thoroughly entertaining first half of Conte's reign. His injection of positivity worked well for us going forward, as we raced into a 3-0 lead. There's clearly a whole lot of work to be done defensively though, as we allowed them back into the match by conceding two goals. Conte's already been barking out orders on the side, displaying that passion he promised. Let's hope his first half-time team-talk gives the team another boost to come out and put this game to bed in the second half."

The admirable travelling support continued to sing their hearts out, and Vitesse started the second half the stronger of the two sides.

59 minutes in and Romero received his marching orders – He threw himself into the back of a Vitesse player he'd gotten too tight to, then bundled him to the ground as he turned him. A clear second yellow, and he walked off holding his ribs having harmed himself in the challenge.

Suddenly it became a stern test for Spurs, holding onto a narrow 3-2 lead with ten men.

With twenty to go, Conte reacted with a triple substitution – Ndombele for Son, Moura for Sánchez, and Skipp for Winks.

On the 80th minute, Kane was wrestled to the ground by Doekhi in a challenge similar to the one that saw Romero sent off, and already on a yellow, the Vitesse defender was given his marching orders too.

Minutes later and Vitesse were down to nine men – Ndombele played into Winks in the centre circle, he whipped a lovely first time ball out to Royal on the right wing, the Vitesse goalkeeper came racing way out of his penalty area, Royal attempted to lift it over him and the keeper jumped to block it, but in doing so made contact with his arm outside the area leading to a straight red.

Spurs, suddenly on the right side of a numerical advantage, made a fourth change – Højbjerg made way for Lo Celso.

Lo Celso should have made it four in stoppage time – A majestic touch and turn from Ndombele saw him away from his man in midfield. He waltzed into space before laying one through to Lo Celso, who should have scored, but his finish was saved by the face of the outrushing goalkeeper.

"Thoughts at Full-Time – Spurs started off electric but went on to have multiple sloppy spells which made for an unnecessarily nervy night. They got the three points in the end though, and have given Antonio Conte plenty of food for thought in his upcoming training sessions. Spurs sit second in their group with two games to go. As for the Premier League, it's off to Goodison Park for a tricky encounter against Everton on Sunday."

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 1. Hugo Lloris – 8 – Forced into a number of flying saves to show he still has that cat-like athleticism at 34. Protected our lead well.

• 15. Eric Dier – 5 – Beaten to the header for their goal. Nutmegged for the second. Played some decent balls into midfield to get moves started going forward.

• 4. Cristian Romero – 4 – Arrived with a reputation for red and yellow cards, saw his first red in a Spurs shirt tonight. Let the team down by being recklessly sent off, but did have a lot of covering to do for Royal. Went off holding his ribs, hopefully it's nothing serious.

• 33. Ben Davies – 5 – His scuffed shot led to our second goal. Struggled with the pace of the game on occasion. Lucky to not give away a penalty. Has work to do if he's going to cement a place in the back three.

• 12. Emerson Royal – 6 – Strong surges forward in the more advanced wing-back position. Loves his leggy step-overs down the side of the box. Targeted defensively though, and was caught out a few times, most notably for their second goal. Good performance as a winger, not so much as a right back.

• 29. Oliver Skipp – 6 – Didn't do a whole lot wrong. Did well to keep us in possession. Looked worried at being withdrawn for Winks. Could turn into an interesting battle between those two.

• 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 6 – Started well but had a few sloppy moments as the game went on. Persistent play to find a way through midfield and pass to Moura in the build-up to the first goal.

• 3. Sergio Reguilón – 8 – Exciting to see him in a wing-back role and didn’t disappoint – Raced up and down all game and provided an attacking threat. Played a nice ball inside to the overlapping Davies for the third.

• 27. Lucas Moura – 7 – Had a golden chance to slide through Kane early on and over-hit it. Did well to link up with Kane in midfield then find the finish in front of goal to make it 2-0.

• 7. Son Heung-min – 7 – Almost scored inside two minutes, before doing so inside fifteen. Lovely footwork and effort soon after that crashed against the post. A livewire as usual and looked disappointed to be subbed.

• 10. Harry Kane – 7 – A lot better. Well-timed assist for the second and played a part in the third that went down as an own goal.

Substitutions:

• 7. Son Heung-min <-- 72' --> 28. Tanguy Ndombele – 6 – Majestic first touch to turn away from a player in midfield, followed it up by laying one through to Lo Celso, who should've scored.

• 27. Lucas Moura <-- 73' --> 6. Davinson Sánchez – 6 – Suffered a nasty head injury soon after coming on, but was bandaged up and continued. Helped prevent a third Vitesse goal.

• 29. Oliver Skipp <-- 73' --> 8. Harry Winks – 7 – Nice first time ball whipped out to Royal that led to the goalkeeper's red. Got on the ball and drove forward with it for a change. Surprisingly positive performance from him and will be interesting to see where he goes from here under the new boss.

• 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg <-- 87' --> 18. Giovani Lo Celso – 5 – Tried to turn inside and lost the ball when given a good chance on the edge of the area. Should have scored with the one put on a plate for him by Ndombele.

Man of the Match – 3. Sergio Reguilón