Ludogorets coach Stanislav Genchev says Tottenham Hotspur’s ‘class’ cannot be questioned after Jose Mourinho’s side secured a 3-1 Europa League win in Bulgaria, while speaking to Gong.
As Jose Mourinho admitted on his official Instagram page (that is a sentence we never thought we’d write), Spurs didn’t ‘play especially well’ on Thursday night.
But even if the London giants didn’t step up of second gear, it was still much better than the abomination of seven days earlier.
With that miserable 1-0 defeat to Antwerp still flashing before their eyes, a near full-strength Tottenham side comfortably dispatched Ludogorets to take control of their Europa League group.
It was a landmark evening for Harry Kane who, after scoring his 200th goal in Tottenham colours, produced a remarkable 10th assist of the season to set up Lucas Moura after half an hour in Bulgaria.
Claudiu Keseru threatened to spark a Ludogorets fight-back with a well-taken volley just after half-time. But Giovani Lo Celso’s tidy finish, created brilliantly by Heung Min-Son just 17 seconds after the Korean emerged from the bench, clinched a deserved 3-1 win.
“The first half was one of our weakest so far in the European tournaments this season,” bemoaned a disappointed Genchev.
“We came in with too much respect for Tottenham and that prevented the players from showing their abilities.
“We were very weak in the first half and Tottenham’s class is indisputable. Logically, we lost two goals before half-time. In the second half I think we played better, but the opponent’s class had a big impact.”
If there was one negative on the night, however, it’s that Benfica loanee Carlos Vinicius once again failed to open his account in Spurs colours on his third appearance.
Vinicius fired a simple chance over the bar with his favoured left-foot, a week after being hauled off at half-time against Antwerp.
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