Tottenham 3 Bodo/Glimt 1: Postecoglou’s selection decisions pay off but late injuries a concern

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Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes of reaching the 2025 Europa League final are intact after they defeated Bodo/Glimt 3-1 in Thursday night’s semi-final first leg.

Spurs got off to a dream start, with Yves Bissouma and Richarlison — two surprise picks by Ange Postecoglou — combining to set up Brennan Johnson with only 37 seconds on the clock. Spurs were then rewarded for a patient, mature and notably direct first-half performance with a second goal just after the half-hour mark, James Maddison latching onto a long pass from Pedro Porro and guiding the ball into the Glimt net.

The third Spurs goal was a nonchalantly taken second-half penalty from Dominic Solanke, after VAR had spied a foul on Cristian Romero by Fredrik Sjovold. But just as it looked like being a perfect evening, injuries to Maddison and Solanke were followed by a late goal from Ulrik Saltnes, which keeps the Norwegian side — just about — in the tie.

Jack Pitt-Brooke and Elias Burke dissect the key storylines from the game.

Was the shine taken off a near-perfect evening?

The energy was different. Ten minutes before kick-off, the stands were a sea of white and the noise was deafening. In the club’s biggest game of the season, the 61,327 fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium provided the impetus for the players to come out of the blocks flying.

Johnson opened the scoring after 38 seconds, their quickest home goal of the season. With the stadium still bouncing, Maddison came close to making it two minutes later. Two goals up and dominant, the chatter at half-time was whether Spurs would go to Norway next week three or four to the good. As he did against Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals, Dominic Solanke scored from the spot to give Spurs a 3-0 lead — but that advantage was pegged back in the 82nd minute by Urik Saltnes.

Injuries to Solanke and Maddison are a definite concern, and Postecoglou will be desperate to have his No. 9 and primary creator (particularly in the absence of Dejan Kulusevski) fit for the second leg. Glimt are a different outfit at home, and the arctic temperatures in Bodo and the artificial turf at Aspmyra Stadion will be testing.

(Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Still, Tottenham have found inspiration with a more pragmatic style in the Europa League, and, after Frankfurt, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t believe they can go to a tough venue and make it through.

Elias Burke

Postecoglou’s selection decisions pay off

In the biggest game of his Tottenham tenure, Ange Postecoglou made two selections that made everyone gasp. With Lucas Bergvall out with an ankle injury, Yves Bissouma came into midfield, his first start since struggling at Wolves on 13 April. And on the left wing he went for Richarlison over Mathys Tel, the Brazilian’s first start out wide since October 2023. In both cases it felt like Postecoglou was going for power and experience and over a younger, nimbler option.

No-one could have expected Postecoglou to be vindicated as quickly as he was. Just over 30 seconds in, Bissouma won a ball he had no right to win. Pedro Porro whipped a cross from the right and Richarlison’s header back across goal was perfect. Brennan Johnson finished with a header of his own and Spurs were away.

Tottenham lead already!

Brennan Johnson heads home just 40 seconds into the game 🤯

📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/trv06OX7CE

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 1, 2025

Spurs kept trying to use Richarlison’s physicality down the left, although he looked rusty in front of goal a few times, unsurprisingly given how little he has played. He was withdrawn at the break for Mathys Tel. But Bissouma continued to anchor the midfield alongside Rodrigo Bentancur, giving Spurs a solid base to play a more direct, pragmatic game.

Without those two in from the start, they would have not have been able to do it quite like this.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

(Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Long balls make short work of Bodo/Glimt

Long balls have felt at odds with the style Ange Postecoglou has tried to implement at Tottenham. In fact, they have played the fewest number of long passes in the Premier League this season. In the Europa League, however, they’ve proven extremely fruitful of late.

A perfectly weighted long ball by Cristian Romero over the Eintracht Frankfurt defence towards James Maddison was how Spurs engineered the only goal at Deutsche Bank Park, with goalkeeper Kaua Santos taking out the 28-year-old to set up Dominic Solanke’s penalty. They came close to breaking through Glimt’s defence for the second time in precisely the same manner in the sixth minute, with the Argentinian finding Maddison’s third-man run, but his volley on the stretch flew over the crossbar.

Bodo/Glimt failed to heed the warning signs, with Maddison scoring his third Europa League goal of the season owing to a pinpoint long pass from defence. This time, Pedro Porro was the architect, drilling a 40-yard pass over the Glimt defensive line and into Maddison’s path, who took the ball down slightly away from goal.

Maddison controls Porro’s searching ball (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

With Glimt goalkeeper Nikita Khaikin closing the angle, Maddison bounced a right-footed effort past the Russian and into the net.

Elias Burke

What next for Tottenham?

Sunday, May 4: West Ham (Away), Premier League, 2pm UK, 9am ET

(Top photo: Getty Images)

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