March 11, 2021 - Tottenham tops Dinamo 2:0 in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16 tonight in London.
The Croatian champion returned to Tottenham for the first time since 2008 when they lost 4:0 in Group D of the then Uefa Cup.
Jose Mourinho's side has been in great form lately with four consecutive championship victories and a 13:1 goal difference. Tottenham is now in the fight for the first four spots leading to the Champions League, which allowed Mourinho to rest some of his starters, even though Harry Kane and Heung-min Son began from the first minute on Thursday. Gareth Bale was on the bench.
Dinamo also came to London in great form and full of confidence after a great Europa League season thus far. Mamic's team finished the group stage undefeated and topped Krasnodar in the last 32. Zoran Mamić did not make significant changes to the starting 11.
Starting lineups
Tottenham: Lloris - Davies, Dier, Sanchez, Aurier - Ndombele, Alli, Sissoko - Son, Kane, Lamela
Dinamo: Livaković - Leovac, Theophile_Catherine, Lauritsen, Ristovski - Ivanušec, Ademi, Jakić, Majer - Oršić, Petković
Tottenham v Dinamo Recap
Dinamo entered the match with confidence, and even though Tottenham pressured Dinamo's defense more in the first 20 minutes, the Zagreb side held their own.
That is, until the 25th minute, when Lamela danced through Dinamo's defense, hit the post, only for Kane to finish for 1:0 Tottenham.
Tottenham ended the first half with 67% possession, though they had only two more shots than Dinamo (6/4), and Dinamo had more shots on goal (2/3).
While Tottenham maintained their momentum at the start of the second half, Petković had Dinamo's best chance in the 59th minute, shooting just near post to keep Tottenham in the lead.
Tottenham increased its lead in the 70th minute. Theophile-Catherine weakly cleared the ball out of the box to Kane who scored his second goal for 2:0. Dinamo was unable to come back.
Dinamo and Tottenham will meet in the return match at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb on Thursday, March 18.
To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.
