Tottenham 5 Mura 1
Victory for Spurs was always the minimum requirement here, and they were obliged to enlist the cavalry in order to confirm it.
Harry Kane spent half an hour on the pitch and scored three times, completing his first hat-trick for almost exactly a year, offering a form of diversion with wounds from the defeat at Arsenal still raw. All the same, it was not a night that answered many questions about their direction under Nuno Espirito Santo.
When Dele Alli, with a penalty, and Giovani Lo Celso scored from the game’s first two meaningful attacks the occasion seemed set up for a cricket score without any need for reinforcements. But a relatively strong starting XI did not push on from there and Mura, who refused to shrink, pulled a brilliant goal back through Ziga Kous.
At that point Nuno left nothing to chance, quickly sending on his three first-choice attackers and seeing Kane assert his class to avert the looming possibility of severe embarrassment.
A sparse crowd might have felt like a sign of the times although, in Spurs’s defence, it is doubtful even a respectable performance in the north London derby would have given this tie added allure. Mura, the Slovenian champions, have only existed in their current form since 2013; they trickled down through the Champions League and Europa League qualifiers into the continent’s third-tier competition and would ordinarily have presented the merest footnote in Tottenham’s season.
The pressure on Nuno has become such, though, that anything resembles a banana skin in waiting. While he made nine changes from Sunday’s no-show, Dane Scarlett was the only callow head on view. Sergio Reguilon was retained at left-back and Alli, whether as privilege or punishment, had the responsibility of leading Spurs out.
Alli was substituted at half-time against Arsenal but, within three minutes, was afforded a chance to begin clawing his way back into favour. He won the penalty himself, nipping ahead of the goalkeeper Matko Obradovic after a deflection off Jan Gorenc had sent him through. Obradovic got something on the ball but not before he had cleaned Alli out; there was no disputing the spot kick, which was dispatched clinically.
The pocket of around 50 Mura fans were positioned parallel to their side’s 18-yard line. By the eighth minute they had watched Spurs penetrate it again, to similar effect. This time Harry Winks passed through the inside-left channel to Lo Celso, who made light of perfunctory attention from Matic Marusko to arrow a rising drive across Obradovic.
Everyone might have happily called it quits there, but proceedings had barely begun. To Mura’s credit, they sought to assert themselves. Nardin Mulahusejnovic, their tall Bosnian forward, could have quickly pulled a goal back when flinging himself at a left-wing cross but glanced a decent opening wide. A better finish could have roused the doubts that bubble a millimetre beneath the surface here, but in the event those would be summoned soon enough.
Spurs’s efforts to pull further clear were hardly frenetic. Alli, starting as a No 10 but appearing on the left, beat two men with some slick footwork but ran aground when attempting to outfox a third. After the half-hour he forced Obradovic into a parry from 20 yards, while Oliver Skipp shot wide on the run, but the ease with which they sliced through early on would not be matched before the interval.
They could fairly have been accused of coasting and, seven minutes after the restart, were made to pay in thrilling fashion. Skipp had just thwarted a promising Mura counter but the visitors came again and won a left-sided corner. It was cleared competently enough by Scarlett but was returned with blistering interest by Kous, whose 25-yard volley could not have been struck more purely. Pierluigi Gollini was left rooted to the spot and, from nothing, the game was on.
It is hard to imagine Nuno had envisaged introducing Kane, Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura by the hour mark but on they came in a sign that the mood had shifted significantly. Obradovic was quickly required to smother at Kane’s feet, but the pair were soon face to face again. This time Kane provided the shot of quality Spurs had come to require, running on to a delicately curved Moura through ball and sweeping home confidently.
Kane had erased those doubts through his quality and sheer seriousness. He doubled his tally with a close-range finish after Son had skipped away down the left; the hat-trick arrived after good work from Lo Celso and, for now, those of a Spurs persuasion could crack a smile. - Guardian
