Published: 11 December, 2015
By PAUL COWLING at White Hart Lane

Europa League Group J
SPURS 4, AS MONACO 1

A FIRST-HALF hat-trick from £30million man Erik Lamela cemented Spurs’ position at the top of Group J last night.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino was delighted with his fellow countryman’s hat-trick heroics, saying Lamela “deserves all the headlines”.

“Lamela hasn't surprised me. He is a great talent. What more do I need to say?” said the Argentine coach.

“He has needed time to adapt, but he has more confidence now, and he looks a different player from two years ago, when he first joined the club.”

Pochettino had made seven changes from the side held at West Brom at the weekend, with Christian Eriksen rested and Harry Kane an unused substitute. But a mix of youth and experience on the pitch still proved too much for the visitors.

Monaco fielded a strong line-up, needing a win to have any chance of joining Tottenham in the knockout stage, but Lamela swept Spurs into a quickfire lead on two minutes, when he turned in a cross from Ben Davies.

A goal up and controlling possession, Spurs zipped the ball around on a pitch wet from teeming rain.

The slick surface certainly bamboozled Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic, who allowed a speculative shot from Lamela to squirm under his body and into the net for 2-0 after just 14 minutes.

Tom Carroll, making a rare start in midfield, curled a shot just wide on 24 minutes, before youngster Josh Onomah forced Subasic into a save on the half-hour mark, as Spurs continued to dominate.

Lamela sealed his hat-trick in the 37th minute when he ran on to a pass from the livewire Son Heung-Min, before thumping the ball into the net to make it 3-0.

Onomah was denied again when his scuffed shot was charged away by Subasic on 56 minutes.

Nacer Chadli, returning to first-team action, replaced Lamela on the hour mark, just as Stephan El-Shaarawy had pulled a goal back for the visitors. Nabil Dirar almost made it 3-2 on 66 minutes, but his header sailed wide from a corner.

Any hope of a comeback was ended when Carroll wriggled through from an acute angle to make it 4-1 in the 77th minute, claiming his first senior goal for the club.

“I am very happy with the win,” said Pochettino.

“We have proved we have a strong squad, and this was a perfect game to show that.

“But we will keep working hard and make sure we keep our feet on the ground.”

Pochettino confirmed that Eric Dier, who took a knock on his foot, was taken off before half-time “as a precaution”.

“Eric will be okay for Newcastle on Sunday,” he added.

SPURS: Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Davies, Dier (Benteleb 41), Carroll, Onomah, Njié (Alli 78), Lamela (Chadli 60), Son-Heung-Min.
Substitutes not used: Vorm, Kane, Townsend, Carter-Vickers.
Attendance: 34,122.