OPPORTUNITY came knocking for Fernando Llorente last night and the veteran striker kicked the door wide open to his Spurs career.
Spanish international Llorente had struggled to make any kind of impression since his £15million summer move from Swansea.
But the man drafted in to lift some of the goalscoring responsibility from Harry Kane finally showed the sceptical Tottenham fans that that he is no Vincent Janssen or Roberto Soldado.
Mauricio Pochettino had declared before this final Champions League group game that: ‘This is a good chance to knock on my door and say ‘I’m here and I’m ready’.
And Llorente responded to that invitation with a clinical 20th minute strike to send Spurs on their way against an Apoel team who appeared to be doing their level best not to qualify for the Europa League.
Georges-Kevin N’Koudou has waited even longer for his breakthrough goal and must have feared he was never going to make his mark in the Premier League after 18 months in the Tottenham shadows. But the young Frenchman took his inspiration from Llorente’s early lead to finish off a positive 90 minutes with a late deflected effort. With first place in Group H already assured by unforgettable previous victories over Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, this was always going to be a low-key affair. But at least it allowed Pochettino the opportunity to rest some of his flagging superstars while giving the fringe players a taste of European football.
And nobody was more determined to make his point to the manager than the frustrated Llorente. The vast majority of his previous 16 appearances for Spurs had come from the subs’ bench and had offered precious few chances to open his account for his latest club. Yet there was absolutely no sign of rustiness as he swivelled on to Serge Aurier’s low cross to dispatch a sweet first-time shot past keeper Nauzet Perez. Nobody enjoyed that moment more than Pochettino, who has looked to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders in recent weeks.
Tottenham’s Argentine manager has been at a loss to explain his team’s recent fall from grace after their Champions League heroics this season. So thank goodness for the opportunity to get their season back on track against the Cypriot champions who were there for the taking almost from the first whistle. It is no exaggeration to say that Spurs could easily have been five up by the time Llorente finally opened the floodgates.
It certainly looked like it was going to be one of those nights for Spurs when Juan Foyth, Georges-Kevin N’Koudou and Davinson Sanchez were all frustrated in one extraordinary ninth-minute incident. But Apoel were simply not good enough to shut up shop despite the noisy backing of a sizeable Cypriot contingent in a half-empty Wembley Stadium. Llorente’s breakthrough goal simply drove the visitors even further towards their own goal but it still wasn’t enough to keep Spurs at bay.
Heung-Min Son doubled their lead in the 37th minute when he swapped passes with Llorente on the edge of the area before curling a beautiful shot inside the far post. The South Korean was unfortunate not to add to his tally shortly before the half-time break with a rasping drive which stung the hands of the Apoel keeper. And it was not until the 49th minute that the visitors posed any kind of threat to Michel Vorm’s goal with a shot from Praxitelis Vouros which Danny Rose did will to divert for a corner.
Yet there was never any chance of an Apoel comeback, which meant Llorente could afford to shrug off his failure to capitalise on a 56th minute defensive error before Nkoudou’s 80th minute effort flew home with a deflection off Jesus Rueda. The victory meant that Spurs finished a comfortable three points clear of runners-up Real Madrid at the top of Group H and that is something few of their supporters could have imagined when the draw was made.
It means they can now face Bayern Munich, Juventus, Basel, Seville, Shakhtar Donetsk or Porto in Monday’s draw for the last 16. Time was not so long ago that the prospect of facing many of those Euro giants would have filled Tottenham with dread. But not any more. Spurs are a Champions League force to be reckoned with and they are not ready to give up on their ambitions any time soon.
From The Sun
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