Johnson continues fine run of form as Spurs seal nervy win over Ferencvaros

Substitute Brennan Johnson continued his recent hot-streak as a youthful Tottenham maintained their perfect start to life in the UEFA Europa League with a 2-1 victory at Ferencvaros.

Ange Postecoglou named four teenagers in his starting XI in a much-changed team from the side that thumped Manchester United in the Premier League at the weekend.

Spurs took full advantage of the reprieve and Pape Matar Sarr broke the deadlock on 23 minutes when he fired in following a mix-up in the home team’s defence.

Guglielmo Vicario produced a fine fingertip stop to keep out Matheus Saldanha following the restart, while Timo Werner and 19-year-old debutant Will Lankshear went close at the other end.

Spurs eventually notched a second when Johnson rolled a low shot into the corner four minutes from time to make it five goals in his last five appearances.

Varga then set up a nervy finale with a super volley at the near post, but the visitors held on to make it two wins from two in Europe.

Tottenham will now look to maintain their current momentum when they visit Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday.

After just one win from their opening four matches, there were some early grumblings in September following Tottenham’s home reversal against Arsenal.

Ange and Co have responded superbly with five wins on the spin in all competitions.

A few eyebrows were raised when Postecoglou named such a mix of youth and experience for a tricky away tie here, but his young charges responded with 17-year-old Mikey Moore the pick of the starlets on show.

It was called something of a risk by the TNT Sports experts ahead of kick off, but the Spurs boss got his reward and it means there are still plenty left in the legs of the likes of Dominic Solanke, Dejan Kulusevski, Micky van de Ven and James Maddison ahead of a tough Premier League clash at the weekend.

Mikey Moore (Tottenham). The youngster has been earmarked as a star of the future for quite some time and he capped his first ever start for the club with an excellent showing. Threatened throughout with driving runs and good awareness with his flicked pass in the first half leading to the opening goal.

FERENCVAROS: Dibusz 7, Ramirez 6, Gustavo 6, Cisse 6, Gartenmann 6, Maiga 6, Abu Fani 7, Civic 7, Saldanha 6, Traore 7, Varga 8. Subs: Ben Romdhane 6, Zachariassen 6, Makreckis 6, Kady 6, Pesic n/a.

TOTTENHAM: Vicario 8, Gray 7, Davies 7, Romero 7, Porro 8, Bissouma 8, Sarr 8, Bergvall 6, Moore 8*, Werner 6, Lankshear 6. Subs: Johnson 7, Maddison 6, Kulusevski 7, Solanke n/a.

16’ – FERENCVAROS GOAL RULED OUT! Varga times his run nicely to arrive late and glance a lovely, angled header into the far corner from a left-wing cross. VAR checks for offside… and it’s given! That’s a surprise. It’s not against Varga but his teammate in the middle who is adjudged to have distracted Vicario.

23’ – GOAL! – Ferencvaros 0-1 Tottenham: (Sarr). The hosts make a meal of defending Moore’s impish flick into the box and it allows Sarr to seize on the loose ball and fire home the opener.

34’ – TOTTENHAM CHANCE! Porro tumbles on the right edge of the box, but gets up immediately, nutmegs the defender and curls a shot towards the far corner against the post.

81’ – TOTTENHAM CHANCE! Substitute Johnson arrows a first-time drive against the top of the crossbar. So close to a second for the away side.

86’ – GOAL! – Ferencvaros 0-2 Tottenham: (Johnson). That will seal it! It’s Johnson’s fifth goal in five games as he is allowed too much time inside the area to switch direction and guide a low shot into the corner.

90+1’ – GOAL! – Ferencvaros 1-2 Tottenham: (Varga). Varga reduces the deficit with a superb near-post volley from a dangerous left-wing cross.