Tottenham 3-0 Ipswich: Spurs ease past Tractor Boys in preseason friendly

Tottenham Hotspur took their first tottering steps towards the new Premier League season by playing in a friendly match against League One opponent Ipswich Town at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday. Spurs started with a fairly strong, mostly first choice lineup and ended with the kids, scoring three times in the first half en route to a 3-0 win. Ryan Sessegnon opened the scoring, and Son Heung-Min added a brace for the hosts.

Key Moments

First Half

7’ — GOAL! Tottenham lead from their first shot, and it’s from Ryan Sessegnon. Dele Alli found him cutting in from the left wing, and Sess hit it into the bottom left corner. Spurs lead 1-0!

9’ — GOAL! Son Heung-Min capitalizes on a lazy backpass from Ipswich, and pounces to score an easy goal. 2-0 lead and Spurs aren’t even ten minutes into the match.

29 — GOAL! Sonny with his second from a gorgeous forward pass from Juan Foyth. Sonny took it in stride and chipped the keeper. 3-0 to Spurs.

42’ — Nearly a third from Sonny from a lovely cross by Gedson. Son gets a toe to the ball but it flies just over the bar. Just after, Hojbjerg gets a head to a Son corner but Cornell is there to make the save.

Second Half

Four changes for Mourinho at halftime: Dennis Cirkin, Jack Clarke, Cameron Carter Vickers and Joe Hart on at halftime. Ipswich change all 11 players.

63’ — Shot on target from Sessegnon, but it’s low and straight at the keeper. Much fewer chances this half than in the first.

63’ — Sub for Spurs as Hojbjerg comes off for 18-year old Harvey White.

71’ — Two 16-year old debuts! Dane Scarlett and Alfie Devine are on for Lucas Moura and Winks.

74’ — Another sub! Jamie Bowden on for Spurs, Dele goes off.

80’ — Very close from Scarlett! The 16-year old nearly got a boot on a cross from Jack Clarke, but he couldn’t quite get there. Would’ve been a lovely debut goal.

FULL TIME — Not a lot of chances in the second half, and that’s fine. Final score — 3-0.

Key Players

Son Heung-Min — Two goals, and nearly a third in not a lot of minutes. Sonny looked pretty sharp against League One opposition playing in his preferred slot on the left flank.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg — Hard to take too much from this match but he was solid enough in his Spurs debut. Interesting that he played in front of Harry Winks and not as the holder.

Dele — Worked hard at the tip of the spear for Spurs and had some lovely moments. Really, really (really) wanted to score and came close a couple of times.

Gedson Fernandes — Played at right back in the Aurier Role™ and was useful. One of the Carty Free masthead said he showed more promise there against Ipswich than we’ve seen from him in any other position thus far.

Notes and Observations

• The team that ended the match had very little in common with the team that started it. By the end, it was basically Toby and the Kids™ with most of the team being 19 or younger. We got club debuts for 16-year olds Alfie Devine, whom Spurs signed from Wigan this summer, and striker Dane Scarlett, who was inches from becoming a Spurs academy folk legend like Tom Carroll or Marcus Edwards. Also runouts for Jamie Bowden, Harvey White, Cameron Carter-Vickers (who still looks thicc) and probably others whom I’m forgetting.
• Dennis Cirkin looked impressive in his appearance, defending well and getting forward and looking to progress the ball. I also enjoyed watching Jack Clarke, who was pretty lively if a touch uneven.
• It was fun to get a look at the youf but honestly, very few if any of them are going to heavily feature for Spurs this season, and that includes Cirkin. This might help a bunch of them get some loans, though. The kids are all right.
• Joe Hart played for like 25 minutes and barely touched the ball. Maybe he shouted the ball away from goal a few times, but he could’ve been back there checking Instagram for all that it mattered.
• Hard to take away too much from this match, but Spurs looked in much better form than they do most preseasons at this time, probably because the last season ended like three weeks ago or something.
• TIL that Ipswich Town are known as the Tractor Boys. Cool.
• Next preseason match: next Friday, August 28, vs. Reading.