Lucas Silva steps up to help Paços de Ferreira stun weakened Spurs

If Tottenham really want to reach the Europa Conference League group stage, it might be time to call upon a top-class centre-forward. Paços de Ferreira deserved this win over a scratch selection, a first-half goal from Lucas Silva ensuring there was at least something to remember of a thoroughly tedious match. Even so, the Portuguese side were certainly not good enough to suggest a fully firing Harry Kane would have problems putting them away if picked for next week’s second leg; continued participation in this competition might be bittersweet as parting shots go, though, and there was certainly little indication in a featureless showing that Nuno Espírito Santo would lose sleep over an early exit.

“Not a good performance,” Nuno admitted, and he could say that again. Spurs created just one goalscoring situation in the entire game, at the very start, and never showed anything like the gumption required to penetrate robust but generally drab opponents. While this was a hotch-potch of a side, designed to give minutes to players who had lacked game time while bedding in a sprinkling of youngsters and new signings, the head coach might have liked to see some of them stake something resembling a claim to a Premier League start.

They were undone just before half-time by a home team that, after beginning as if braced for a tornado of high-octane Premier League speed and intensity, had noticeably begun to understand there was rather less to fear. When the referee, Maurizio Mariani, played a smart advantage in midfield Tottenham were characteristically slow to react. It meant Valente Santos had space to weigh a perfect slide-rule pass for Silva, who ran through and beat the debutant, Pierluigi Gollini, with a confident low finish. It was Silva’s first goal since arriving from Flamengo a year ago: disarray among Spurs’ back three had abetted it, with Cameron Carter-Vickers allowing the forward to run off him far too easily and Cristian Romero over-hasty in stepping up.

Romero, the loan signing from Atalanta, was making his first start and looked uncomfortable at times, twice almost letting the hosts in with lapses before they scored. His hunger to engage in challenges high up the pitch bordered on rashness and might be punished against top-class foes: he was fortunate not to be booked after one such tackle on the goalscorer in the second half. At least he brought a certain edge to the party, though; it was impossible to say the same of his new teammates.

“Individually some players had good situations but as a team we were not organised enough, didn’t move the ball fast enough to break down a team that was very compact,” Nuno said. Neither Harry Winks nor Giovani Lo Celso, selected together in midfield, covered themselves in glory and the sight of the former being turned with embarrassing ease by Denílson after half-time summed up the lack of energy on show.

What creativity there was came exclusively in the early moments, when the stage appeared set for Bryan Gil to run proceedings all night on his debut. The signing from Sevilla immediately looked quick and crisp on the ball, tricking his way to the byline within three minutes before cutting back for Ryan Sessegnon. Had Sessegnon shot first timewith his right foot, he may well have scored; instead he took an extra touch and, in a fine position, got the ball stuck under his feet.

Gil continued to work promising spaces for a while from his attacking midfield position but that chance was as good as it got for him and Spurs, both of whom faded sharply. “Bryan started well but that’s my responsibility, we still have to find the right position for him,” Nuno said.

Spurs’ disjointedness, coupled with the inability of more senior players to lead, meant their youngest players could hardly be blamed for not shining. Nile John, deployed to maraud with Gil, was replaced at the interval; the exciting 17-year-old Dane Scarlett, whose inclusion had been eagerly anticipated amid narratives that one striker from the academy might be heir to another, barely had a kick. “We needed to create more chances for him and that’s down to us,” Nuno said.

Even Kane might have struggled on gruel this thin but, in any case, he was back home limbering up for whatever comes next. “He trained today with the group of players that stayed in England. He trained well and he’s going to train tomorrow again,” explained Nuno, who at this rate must decide whether it is worth his while to rouse him next Thursday.