Karabakh FK head coach Gurban Gurbanov (52) has expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the 35-minute delay in the match against Tottenham.
Karabakh (Azerbaijan) lost 0-3 away to Tottenham 0-3 in the first leg of the 2024-2025 UEFA Europa League Phase 1 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, at 4:35 a.m. ET on Sunday.
Kickoff did not take place at the scheduled 4:00pm. The whistle blew after a 35-minute delay. Traffic was to blame.
Karabakh spent more than two and a half hours on the road after the team bus got stuck in traffic and only arrived at the stadium 15 minutes before kickoff, which meant that the game started 35 minutes later than scheduled. Gurbanoff claimed that upon their arrival, the team was informed that they had 40 minutes to start the match, which left them underprepared.
“The police escort was not provided until the team was almost at the stadium, which left the team with insufficient time to properly prepare for the match,” Gurbanoff complained, according to British outlet The Standard.
“Our players were excited to face a strong team like Tottenham, but they suffered from the lack of preparation time,” he reiterated.
Despite their numerical superiority, Qarabag were unable to capitalize on the win.
Qarabag started the game in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Juninho Vieira started up front, with Abdela Zubir, Yassine Benzia, and Toral Byramov in the second line. Patrick Andrade and Julio Homang were in the midfield. The back line consisted of Elvin Chapakhlyev, Vedavi Whisenov, Bahul Mustafazadeh, and Mateusz Silva, with Mateusz Kochalski in goal.
Tottenham lined up in a 4-3-3 formation. Son Heung-min, Dominic Solanke, and Brennan Johnson lined up in the attack, with Lucas Verbal, Yves Bissouma, and Pape Sarr in the middle. 파워볼실시간 In defense, Ben Davies, Micky van der Vaan, Radu Dragucin, and Archie Gray were the back four, with Guglielmo Vicario in goal.
In the eighth minute of the first half, Tottenham found themselves in an unexpected situation. Dragucin was sent off for a foul from behind after he lost the ball under pressure from Júnior and tried to stop him, failing to handle a pass from van der Vaan. Tottenham quickly withdrew Bailly and brought on Udogie to shore up their defense.
Despite being outnumbered, Spurs struck first. In the 12th minute, Sarr stole the ball in the Qarabag zone and played it to Solanke, who crossed to Johnson on the right. Johnson finished with his right foot to give his team the lead.
Seven minutes into the second half, Tottenham added a second goal.
Kulusebski’s corner kick was cleared by the Qarabag goalkeeper, but the rebound was picked up by Sarr, who took a shot that deflected off a defender’s foot and into the net. Tottenham took a 2-0 lead.
Tottenham’s third goal came in the 23rd minute of the second half. Son Heung-min fired a right-footed shot from the edge of the penalty box that was saved by the Qarabag goalkeeper, but Solanke finished the rebound to make it 3-0. Tottenham were now firmly in control.
Shortly after the goal, however, Son Heung-min limped off with discomfort in his thigh. He complained of pain while sitting on the field in the 26th minute and was eventually replaced by Timo Werner as a precaution.
Qarabag looked to have scored the winner in the 34th minute, but the goal was disallowed for offside. A cross from the right flank was met with a header by Juninho, but the assistant referee’s flag was raised.
Tottenham then settled down for the remainder of the match to secure the 3-0 victory.