Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday played their first Champions League match under new manager Jose Mourinho. Tottenham, who had reached the final of the coveted tournament in the last season, didn’t disappoint their new boss as they registered a 4-2 win over Greek club Olympiacos FC which helped them qualify for tournament’s knockout stage with a game left to play. However, the result was not a clear indication of how things panned out in the match as Tottenham had conceded two early goals inside twenty minutes. Dele Alli pouncing on opposition’s defensive error scored in the 46th minute, cutting short visitors’ lead to half.
The home teams always bank on the 12th man, the spectators, to work in their favour but not always do they get a literal help from those sitting on the sidelines. But Tottenham got an unlikely help from their intelligent ball boy whose awareness helped them score the equaliser in the second half.
Mourinho congratulates Tottenham ball boy after brilliant quick-thinking to assist goal#Mourinho #ballboy pic.twitter.com/Pm4QYfykHR
— Dat Nguyen (@nguyenxdat312) November 26, 2019
The match had just resumed after the half-time break, with Tottenham behind by one goal. Five minutes into the half, the ball crossed the touchline in the opposition half and the ball boy reacting quickly threw the ball to Serge Aurier.
Aurier found the opposition defence napping and took an early throw-in towards Lucas Moura. Moura took no time and fired in a cross which found Harry Kane unmarked inside the box and the Spurs talisman scored with a simple tap-in.
While the credit for the brilliant fightback goes to the players on the field, the ball boy’s intelligence deserves the equal praise.
Jose Mourinho was quick to acknowledge the ball boy’s contribution as he went up straight to him and shook hands with him.
“I love intelligent ball boys, like I was! I was a brilliant ball boy as a kid. And this kid today was brilliant, because he reads the game, he understands the game and he made an assist. He made an important assist. So it’s a good moment for him and he’ll never forget it,” Mourinho said after the match.
After the equaliser, Spurs scored two more goals inside four minutes to turn the tides in their favour. Aurier scored in the 73rd minute while Kane scored his second of the night in the 77th minute via Christian Eriksen’s free-kick.
Kane, who was making his 24th appearance in the World’s biggest club tournament, became the quickest player to score 20 goals in Champions League history.
Tottenham will finish second in Group B behind their final-day opponents Bayern Munich, who made it five wins from five in Europe this season as Robert Lewandowski’s quadruple helped them to a 6-0 win at Red Star Belgrade.
