Europa League: Group J

SPURS 2 (Vinicius 57, Lo Celso 71)
ROYAL ANTWERP 0

THE Europa League, Jose Mourinho has said, gives squad players the chance to show why they should be knocking on the door of the Tottenham first XI.

He has challenged those selected to put on a show he can’t ignore. But with so many changes from his Premier League team sheet, the question arises how fluent a side seemingly thrown together can be?

Each European game has had a disjointed feel. Trying to shine in a second string that is unable to replicate the dash of the league starters has proved a tough ask for the likes of Harry Winks, Davinson Sanchez and Lucas Moura – players who in the past two seasons have seen plenty of first team starts but no longer enjoy guaranteed weekend minutes.

What it does for the confidence of Dele Alli, who is named in a squad, makes the bench and then watches five others get a kick ahead of him on a freezing cold Thursday night, one can only wonder.

Yet for all the questions that games like tonight’s 2-0 stroll against Royal Antwerp raises, there are also pluses.

There was another 60 minutes of Gareth Bale in a Spurs shirt, and he must be reaching near peak fitness. We shall be able to judge what he still has in the locker when he starts playing alongside Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son.

Carlos Vinicius looked good: solid on the ball, a neat eye for the lay off, and body language that said he was enjoying himself.

Giovani Lo Celso, who has suffered from injuries meaning just two league starts so far this term, was the stand out performer: not only too talented for this level, he now also looks fit.

He provided the extra bit of quality and capped a fine display of fluid movement and aggressive closing with a well-taken goal.

Royal Antwerp started smartly, but without really threatening. Spurs took 15 minutes to settle, and their first real chance saw Bale make a yard of space just outside the Antwerp box: he tried to unleash one like days of old but didn’t get enough on it, and an Antwerp defender was well-placed to block.

Midway through the first half, Lo Celso got on the end of what was Tottenham’s best move so far. He jinked his man to give himself time in the area after good approach work by Matt Doherty – but his effort was neither a shot nor quite a cross for the lurking Vinicius to capitalise on.

Lo Celso was taking the game by the scruff of the neck on the half hour mark, slipping round two players before seeing his low shot turned away.

Then Vinicius nearly put Spurs ahead in the dying moments of the half when Moura played him in, but goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand narrowed the angle and managed to get something on the ball.

The opener eventually arrived just before the hour mark. Bale sent a curling free-kick goalwards, and Beiranvand got something on it. The ball came back off the post, and Vinicius was on his toes to get ahead of his marker and tap home.

Spurs did not need to dig deep to protect their lead, and the game took on all the quality of a training run out as Mourinho made multiple tweaks. Son and Kane came on, as did Tanguy Ndombele and Moussa Sissoko.

On 70 minutes, Kane got into space, watched Lo Celso join in on his right, and played a simple pass into his path. Lo Celso had the goal gaping and jinked home a finish his performance deserved.

The win completed Spurs safe passage into the knockout stage. For the lack of dazzle shown this autumn in the Europa League, the fact is the job’s been done.

Spurs: Hart, Doherty, Sanchez, Tanganga, Davies, Reguilon (Bergwijn, 45), Winks (Ndombele, 58), Lo Celso, Moura (Sissoko, 67), Bale, Vinicius (Kane, 58)
Substitutes not used: Whiteman, Dier, Alderweireld, White, Clarke, Alli, Scarlett

Royal Antwerp: Beiranvand, Seck, Refaelov (Ampomah, 45) Hongla (Boya, 58), Batubinsika, Gelin, Benson (Miyoshi, 72), Buta, Haroun, Lukaku (Juklerod, 59)
Substitutes not used: De Laet, Verstraete, Butez, Thiam, Mbokani