Fri 05 November 2021, 16:00
Tottenham HotspurAntonio Conte kicked off his tenure as our Head Coach with a win as we edged Vitesse 3-2 in a drama-filled Europa Conference League clash on Thursday night.
In what felt like a must-win game at kick-off, we got off to the perfect start in north London as we stormed into a 3-0 lead with strikes from Heung-Min Son, Lucas Moura as well as an own goal via Jacob Rasmussen all before the half-hour mark. However, Vitesse were resurgent and pulled two back before the break with Rasmussen registering at the other end on 32 minutes and Matus Bero striking seven minutes later.
After the break, while the goal-rush dried up, the drama certainly didn’t as three red cards were shown in the second 45 minutes to cap off a crazy night. Cristian Romero was the first to be dismissed after he picked up his second booking just before the hour mark. Vitesse’s Danilho Doekhi was then given his marching orders on 81 minutes after also being shown his second yellow card before the visitor’s goalkeeper saw red on 85 minutes after being adjudged to have handled the ball outside of the box.
Here’s a look at the key numbers behind the game…
Highlights | Spurs 3-2 Vitesse
Dutch joy for Lucas
3 - Lucas Moura’s last three Spurs goals have come under three different managers (versus West Ham under Jose Mourinho, versus Burnley under Nuno Espirito Santo and versus Vitesse under Antonio Conte).
2 - Lucas has now scored two goals in his last three games for us having gone 24 games without a goal.
5 – The Brazilian has scored five goals in as many outings in our colours against Dutch opponents (one versus PSV Eindhoven, three versus Ajax and one versus Vitesse).
At home in Europe
1 – Our victory over Vitesse was the first time the Dutch side have been beaten on the road in Europe this season.
12 – We have now won 12 of our last 13 home matches in Europe (L1). We have also won each of our last nine games in a row.
9 – It is the first time since April, 1974 that we have won nine consecutive home games in Europe.
23 – None of our last 23 home games have finished level (W18 L5).
The Italian job
4 – Antonio Conte is our fourth manager in succession to win their first game in charge (Mauricio Pochettino versus West Ham, Jose Mourinho versus West Ham and Ryan Mason versus Southampton).
1 – It was Antonio’s first meeting with a Dutch side in his managerial career.
2 – The Italian’s opening win made him just the second Spurs manager of the last decade to triumph in their first European match in charge (excluding qualifiers) – Jose Mourinho was also victorious in his first European game at the Club.
1 – He became the first Italian to take charge of our First Team.
3 – Heung-Min Son scored the first goal of Antonio Conte’s reign as our Head Coach. He also scored the first goal of Jose Mourinho (versus West Ham) and Nuno Espirito Santo’s tenure (versus Manchester City).
Other notable numbers
64 - Hugo Lloris moved up to joint-second spot in our all-time European competition appearance makers list with his 64th outing on the continent in a Spurs shirt. He has moved level with legendary skipper Steve Perryman and is now three short of the record recently taken by Harry Kane (67).
20 - It was the first time since January, 2001, that one of our games has seen more than two red cards be shown. Twenty years ago, we defeated Newcastle United 4-2 at White Hart Lane and three players saw red. Goalkeeper Neil Sullivan was given his marching orders for us while Nolberto Solano and Kieron Dyer were dismissed for the visitors.
2 – This was just the second time this century that a game in a major European competition has featured five goals and three red cards after Braga’s 4-1 Europa League win over Fenerbahce in 2016.
