UEFA DELETE SOCIAL MEDIA POST 'TROLLING' TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

UEFA have acted quickly after they unintentionally rubbed salt into the wounds of Tottenham Hotspur fans.

The official Europa League account on X posted a picture of Tottenham star James Maddison winking and giving a thumbs up to the camera.

The official Europa League account came under fire for this post of MaddisonCredit: @EuropaLeague - X

But it seemed those behind the account were unaware Maddison was set for a prolonged period on the sidelines after he sustained a knee injury in the first leg of Tottenham's Europa League semi-final tie against Bodo/Glimt.

Maddison bagged the second goal in Tottenham's 3-1 victory over the Norwegian outfit before he was taken off injured in the 65th minute.

Football broadcaster and host of talkSPORT's Trans Europe Express Danny Kelly took note of the initial post and wrote: "W****** @UEFA trolling Spurs!"

Kelly was not the only one who vented their frustrations on social media as other football fans felt the post was in poor taste.

One said: "Is this legit? Surely an organising body shouldn't be flaunting the disappointment of one of the participant team's injured players? @EuropaLeague needs to apologise."

Another posted: "No dog in this fight, but what a disgusting tweet. I don't particularly like James Maddison, but seriously, the lad is out for the season and this is what come from an official @UEFA account? Disgusting."

However, someone at UEFA evidently realised the error of their ways as the post was eventually taken down.

Although Tottenham are yet to confirm the severity of Maddison's injury, talkSPORT understands the midfielder is not expected to play again this season.

Maddison and Dominic Solanke were left out of the Tottenham side that drew 1-1 with West Ham on Sunday and manager Ange Postecoglou divulged the former was 'more of a concern'.

"We're pretty hopeful with Dom that it will be OK, he's improving every day but it made no sense to bring him on today," Postecoglou said post-match.

Star midfielder Maddison went down in the second half against Bodo/GlimtCredit: Gett

"Maddison's a bit more of a concern until we get some more information but he's the one that's more of a concern."

The 28-year-old has been a constant presence in Postecoglou's side this season having made 45 appearances across all competitions.

He also boasts 22 attacking contributions throughout the campaign having registered 12 goals and ten assists.

Maddison's tally of 22 contributions makes him Tottenham's equal-most productive player alongside Dominic Solanke and skipper Heung-min Son.

But he won't get a chance to add to that figure due to the knee injury.

The grim news of Maddison's injury comes as Postecoglou's side stand 90 minutes away from a berth in the Europa League final.

Postecoglou is two games away from ending Spurs' 16-year trophy droughtCredit: Getty

Tottenham travel to Norway on Thursday for the second leg of their semi-final with a two-goal lead.

Progression to the Europa League final would mark the third final Tottenham have made since the 2018/19 campaign.

The north London side reached the final of the Champions League that season but fell short at the last hurdle against Liverpool.

Tottenham then made the final of the Carabao Cup in 2021, only to lose to Manchester City.

But should all go to plan on Thursday evening, Tottenham will have another chance to win their first piece of silverware since 2008.

- Alex Conrad

ANIME GESTURES | DOMONIC SOLANKE

 

SPURS OVERCOME RED CARD, DELAY TO WIN EUROPA LEAGUE OPENER

Pape Matar Sarr's goal helped Tottenham beat Qarabag.

LONDON -- Tottenham Hotspur got their Europa League campaign off to the perfect start on Thursday as they overcame Qarabag 3-0 at home, despite being forced to play the majority of the match with 10 men after defender Radu Dragusin was shown an early red card.

Brennan Johnson's third goal in as many games put Spurs ahead before Pape Matar Sarr and Dominic Solanke made the points safe in the second half.

Tottenham's victory came after kickoff was delayed by 35 minutes due to "severe travel disruption" in the local area. The Qarabag team was caught up in the chaos caused by heavy rain that caused the MetOffice to issue a "yellow weather warning."

Having waited for more than half an hour for the game to start, fans didn't have to wait for long for the on-pitch drama to begin.

Dragusin was shown a straight red card in the seventh minute for hauling down Juninho as the last man after the Qarabag forward robbed him of possession deep inside the Spurs half.

The Romania international's red card prompted Postecoglou to swap midfielder Lucas Bergvall for Destiny Udogie as he sought to restore some balance to his team.

"The red card was not ideal, we started really sloppily but the reaction afterwards was good," Postecoglou told TNT Sports. "We wanted to press high, even with 10 men."

Whether by fortune or design, it took Spurs a matter of seconds after the substitution to open the scoring. Solanke set up Johnson to score in his third successive game, finishing confidently across Qarabag goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski.

Postecoglou's team showed little willingness to follow Arsenal's lead from their draw with Manchester City on Sunday as they continued pressing high up the pitch despite being a man light. Their high defensive line left space in behind that was almost exploited by the lively Juninho, but the Qarabag forward sent a presentable chance wide of Guglielmo Vicario's goal in the 40th minute.

Sarr doubled Spurs' lead shortly after half-time, punishing Kochalski for a weak punch clear by volleying an effort into the bottom corner despite the best efforts of a man on the line to keep it out.

Spurs rode their luck six minutes later after Yves Bissouma gave away a penalty for a lunge on Elvin Cafarquliyev inside the box.

Unfortunately for the visitors, Tural Bayramov saw his spot kick clip the top of the crossbar on its way over Vicario's goal.

Solanke scored his second Spurs goal to put the result beyond doubt in the 68th minute. Similar to his maiden strike for the club against Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday, the Spurs No. 19 was presented with an open goal to finish into after a teammate -- Son Heung-Min this time -- saw an effort parried by the goalkeeper.

It proved to be Son's final involvement in the game as he limped off the pitch after receiving treatment from the physio.

Despite the scoreline, Qarabag continued to pose a threat. Juninho saw a header narrowly ruled out for offside either side of two fine saves from Vicario to deny goal-bound strikes from Yassine Benzia and Cafarquliyev.

Postecoglou delighted the home crowd by introducing much-hyped 17-year-old Mikey Moore for the closing stages, but he struggled to get involved in the game as Spurs played out the last few minutes without major incident.

Spurs travel to face Hungarian side Ferencváros in their next Europa League fixture on Oct. 3 after facing Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Game Information

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

10:35 PM, September 26, 2024

London, England

Line: TOT -2.5

Over/Under: 3.5

Attendance: 51,757

Referees: Willy Delajod

SOLANKE BRACE LIFTS BOURNEMOUTH OUT OF RELEGATION ZONE WITH 2-0 WIN OVER NEWCASTLE

BOURNEMOUTH, England (AP) — Eddie Howe’s return to Bournemouth turned into a nightmare after Dominic Solanke’s brace condemned Newcastle to a 2-0 defeat in the Premier League on Saturday.

Magpies boss Howe, who was the Cherries manager the last time they beat Newcastle in 2017, saw his side’s seven-match unbeaten league run end and its injury crisis deepen.

Newcastle was already missing 11 players through injury and suspension. It then lost Miguel Almiron to what looked like another hamstring problem midway through the first half.