Tottenham Hotspur (England), missing an unfit Son Heung-min, rode a penalty kick winner from Heucharlisson to beat AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) to complete a three-game sweep of their UEFA Europa League (UEL) League Phase 3 tie.
Tottenham defeated AZ Alkmaar 1-0 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on Friday (Aug. 25) in the third leg of their 2024-2025 UEL League Phase 3 home match, thanks to a penalty kick from Heysharlisson eight minutes into the second half.
The win was Tottenham's third straight in the UEL League Phase (W9 D+5 L+5) and moved them level on points with Lazio (Italy - W9 D+8 L+8), but into second place on goal difference.
Tottenham traveled to Alkmaar without their 'captain' Son Heung-min.
The day before the game, Tottenham manager Anzhi Postecoglou said in a press conference, “Son Heung-min felt a little bit of pain after the game last weekend. We're going to keep him out of the game and see how he feels,” he said.
After injuring his hamstring (muscle behind the thigh) 파워볼사이트 in a UEL match against Garabagh (Azerbaijan) on March 27, Son missed Tottenham's first three official matches before making his return to action on March 19, scoring his third goal of the regular season against West Ham in his first game back in four matches.
However, Son felt pain in the injury again after the game, and Postecoglou decided to rest him for this weekend's regular season fixture.
Tottenham went with a three-man front three of Timo Werner, Michy Batshuayi and Mikey Moore and pushed Alkmaar hard early in the first half, but went into the break without a goal.
Tottenham finally broke through six minutes into the second half when Lucas Verbal drew a penalty kick, which was stepped up to the spot, and Michy Batshuayi stepped up to take the spot kick and converted with his right foot. His penalty kick would prove to be the game-winner.
Tottenham capitalized on their numerical advantage to preserve the 1-0 victory when Alkmaar's left fullback David Olpe was sent off in the 40th minute for accumulating cautions.
Meanwhile, Mittwilan (Denmark), who were without South Korea national team defender Lee Han-beom, won 1-0 against Winnion Saint-Gilles (Belgium) in the third round of the 2024-2025 UEL League Phase.
With their third consecutive unbeaten match in the League Phase (2 wins, 1 draw), Mittwilan are in seventh place.
With striker Cho Kyu-sung sidelined with a long-term knee injury, defender Lee Han-beom was named to the substitutes' bench against Gwinnion Saint-Gilles but did not get a chance to play.
Mitwilan won 1-0 in the 18th minute when central defender Usman Diao scored the game-winner off a corner kick.