Anxiety, brilliance, confusion. Perhaps it was not the A to Z of Tottenham under Ange Postecoglou, but they did it through the alphabet in regard to V by victory thanks to the appearance of Wilson Odobert as a goal hero.
Odobert has spent most of his first season injured since his movement of £ 25 million of Burnley last summer, but conjured his first goals for the club when the Spurs exceeded a first -leg deficit to see the challenge of Az Alkmaar.
He leveled the tie in the first half, had a hand in the second scored by James Maddison and even played a part of the defensive confusion that helped the Dutch to return to him, through a goal from KoopMers in pairs.
But Odobert's final act was the decisive one, taking advantage of the winning goal in an open network in the 73rd minute, after a good sweeping movement with a load superimposed on the left and Cross by Djed Spence and a Dominic Solanke movie in the nearby position.
Being that it is estimated, it was not without alarm. Guglielmo Vicario made late rescues and Yves Bissouma produced an excellent sliding authorization to deny the substitute for Az Mees of Wit, protecting the thin leader of Tottenham and reserve a quarter of the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt next month.
“In what was a great night, I could not be happier with the way the players and the way they handled it,” said Postecoglou. 'We were strong, dominant, aggressive in the front third. They deserved to pass and now we are in the quarterfinals of a European competition that is exciting. ''
Wilson Odobert (right) scored twice when Tottenham beat Az Alkmaar in the Europa League
Odobert (center) opened the score in the 26th minute at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
The French then scored the winning goal in the middle of the second half of the game
Odobert was the program star when Spurs reserved his place in the quarterfinals
The Spurs had a strong start in the game and Odobert level the tie in the middle of the first half after Heung-Min are forced an error by Wouter. The young central defender of Az was forced to return to recover a ball from a setback position and took too much time.
They are his opportunity and made a vital block when the van became clear. The Ricochet spilled in the infield, kindly for Solanke, who had the composure to shoot a square pass to Odobert, which arrived to tie a left foot beyond Rome-Jayden Owusu -oduro for his first goal since Burnley scored on the opening day of the championship season.
“I am very happy because he has worked hard,” said Postecoglou. I was excited when we signed it. He has the ability to take people and find space, he is a great technician and pleases me to get goals because he has worked hard to return.
'It is a great transfer to a great club and has not worked until now without its own guilt, due to an injury. It has been frustrating for me not to be able to show it. That is just a starting point for him.
Back in the terms of level in the draw, the mood inside the stadium rose and Tottenham passed the additional zipper ball. They are as threatening as it has done in weeks, hitting inside from the left while Maddison and Bergvall got into the ball and dictated the game in the midfield.
He helped to have the insurance of the central defenders of Postecoglou, the central defenders of Cristian Romero and Micky Van de Ven, in the tandem, starting together for the first time since both were injured against Chelsea in early December.
But Az ventured a little more after granting. Vicar, whose salvings in the first game kept their team in the draw, left intelligently at the foot of Ernest Poku and Zico Buurmeester received a chance, although it is difficult that he could not catch cleanly before the interval.
Spurs escaped again at the beginning of the second half when Vicario gave himself to the ball, trying to beat the Koopmeiners pressure dragging the ball with the sole of his boot.
James Maddison scored his team's second goal with a great ending just inside the area
Maddison made his celebration with his son Heung-Min after the combined couple for the goal
Peer capitalized an error in the back to briefly restore parity in the Europa League draw
The Ange Postecoglou team kept their hopes of winning the covers this season alive
He was lucky to get his own, and in a matter of seconds Tottenham was at the other end celebrating his second, a movement released by another explosion of rhythm through the center of the field from Odobert and an elegant Maddison final after a rapid exchange of passes with his son.
The Spurs seemed more vulnerable when they go from Van left, it is not yet ready for 90 minutes after months of hamstring problems.
Az midfielder, Jordy Classie, showed a shot wide from the edge of the penalty area before the Dutchman level the draw through Koopmeiners, with the considerable help of a defensive confusion between Odobert and Bergvall.
But Odobert established it, restoring Tottenham's aggregate leadership in the 74th minute and survived those last scares to move to the last eight with his season and the search for postercoglou of a living trophy.