Evening Standard
·17 July 2024
Hearts 1-5 Tottenham: Mikey Moore on target in dominant pre-season win as Archie Gray impresses
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·17 July 2024
Hearts equalised early in second-half but Spurs’ youngsters swiftly took control
Ange Postecoglou’s side will travel to Japan and South Korea later this month, with a double-header against Bayern Munich to come, but first it was a trip to Scotland for their opening match of the summer.
A strong starting lineup gave Tottenham a 1-0 lead at the break, Brennan Johnson with the goal, before 11 changes were made at the break.
Emerson Royal’s error inside a minute of the restart gave Lawrence Shankland the chance to equalise, but Spurs then ran riot to ensure it was a successful start to pre-season.
Mikey Moore, the 16-year-old, offered a further glimpse of his potential with sharp work in the box, before Djed Spence and Ashley Phillips got themselves on the scoresheet too.
Archie Gray was one of the big positives on the night for Spurs, starting at centre-back alongside Oliver Skipp.
The summer signing, who can play in defence and midfield, was calm on the ball and firm in the challenge, sliding in on several occasions to halt potential counter-attacks from Hearts.
There were some issues at the back in the first-half for Spurs, though, with Yutaro Oda having a header superbly saved by Brandon Austin after the visitors failed to clear a corner.
But it was almost inevitable that the first-team stars in attack would come good, and so it proved. Dejan Kulusevski’s brilliant flick played James Maddison in, and he fired the ball across the face of goal for Johnson to turn home.
Brennan Johnson opened the scoring for Tottenham at Tynecastle
Andrew Milligan/PA Wire
Heung-min Son and Pedro Porro both wasted opportunities to score before the break, as Postecoglou then changed his entire lineup for the second-half.
Not even a minute of the second period had been played when Emerson’s ball in his own area was intercepted, and it came to Shankland to equalise for the hosts.
From there, though, Spurs’ youngsters stepped up and took their chance to impress their boss.
Spence drove forward and slid a pass through to Lankshear, who finished cooly into the bottom corner. It was a bright cameo from Lankshear, who offered a real threat in his 20 minutes on the pitch before being replaced by Alejo Veliz.
Spurs extended their lead midway through the second-half, with what was a hugely popular goal in front of the travelling fans. Moore cut inside onto his left foot in the box, worked it back onto his right and found the far corner, having been picked out by Lucas Bergvall.
Timo Werner was one of the few senior players involved in the second-half side and he had a big hand in Spurs’ fourth goal. It was a typical Tottenham goal, the German going on the outside and playing a low ball into the six-yard box, where Spence slid in to provide the finishing touch.
There was still time for Spurs to inflict further misery on their hosts, as Dane Scarlett’s header was saved from a corner and the rebound fell for Phillips to add a fifth, capping a successful evening in Scotland.
Postecoglou’s side now face QPR on Saturday, before turning their attention to the tour to Asia.