Tottenham Hotspur look in good shape heading into half-time of their Europa League tie at Ferencvaros.
The Lilywhites lead 1-0 at half-time thanks to a 23rd-minute Pape Sarr strike, which came just minutes after the hosts thought they’d gone in front only to see Barnabas Varga’s effort disallowed for offside.
However, it’s hard to say Spurs dominated the opening 45 minutes. In fact, Ferencvaros had five shots, generated 0.50 xG and attempted 13 crosses into the Spurs box, posing serious questions of their Premier League counterparts.
Tottenham just about held out, which is a huge credit to their rotated line-up that includes teenagers Archie Gray — playing at centre-back — Lucas Bergvall, Mikey Moore and Will Lankshear.
Glenn Hoddle criticises Ange Spurs selection
The game remains in the balance going into the second half, with plenty of work left to do.
And that appears to have left Ange Postecoglou open to criticism from Spurs legend Glenn Hoddle, who believes the Australian should have fielded his strongest line-up from the start to get the job done before thinking about experimenting with young players.
“For me, you play your best team,” Hoddle said on TNT Sports (via BBC Sport). “You play your best team, get the result done and then make changes from there.
“If they get the result, and they gain all that experience, it’s a plus-plus.”
Despite Hoddle’s criticism, it’s so far so good for Spurs, who look set to take maximum points from their first two Europa League games.