LONDON : Wilson Odobert’s first season at Tottenham Hotspur has been blighted by injury but the French youngster belatedly made his mark with his first goals for the club to send them through to the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday.
The 20-year-old opened the scoring against Dutch club AZ Alkmaar in the 26th minute and struck again in the 74th minute to seal a 3-1 victory and send Spurs through to the last eight.
Odobert’s second goal from a counter-attack settled the home jitters after his mix-up with team mate Lucas Bergvall allowed AZ’s Peer Koopmeiners to level the aggregate score.
It was quite a night for the Paris St Germain academy graduate who joined Tottenham from Burnley in August but who suffered a serious hamstring injury in September that has sidelined him for much of the season.
“Super pleased for him as he’s worked awfully hard,” manager Ange Postecoglou, whose side will take on Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals, told reporters.
“I was excited when we signed him. He’s just one of these players who has the ability to take people on, find space and is a great technician.
“He came to a new club this year, big club, a big move for him, and it just hasn’t worked out with no fault of his own because of his injury. It’s been frustrating for me not to be able to showcase him. I know how much he can develop and that’s just a starting point for him.”
Tottenham were in control when James Maddison made it 2-0 on the night with his 11th goal of the season ion all competitions.
There were a few nerves when AZ pulled a goal back but overall it was a positive night for Tottenham who have been boosted by the return to fitness of players including Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Maddison and Dominic Solanke.
“It was a collective effort tonight,” Postecoglou said. “I think it’s the first time since October we’ve had our four leaders on the park. (Guglielmo) Vicario, Romero, Maddison and Son (Heung-min). To have all four of them out there, I think makes a difference for us.”
What has been a torrid season Tottenham could yet come good with Postecoglou still on course to deliver on his boast of always winning a trophy in his second season at a club.
“I know what we’re capable of here and we got the job done,” Maddison said. “We haven’t achieved anything yet, we’re in the quarter-final and we kick on and we look forward to it.”
