Credit: Imago

Dan Godfrey

Fri 2 May 2025 14:59, UK

Tottenham Hotspur are halfway into a major European final, as they aim to turn a season of self-destruction into a momentous end to their trophy drought.

Spurs were a class apart from Norwegian opponents Bodo/Glimt on Thursday evening (1 May), securing a 3-1 first-leg victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

It will be vastly different surroundings for next week’s second leg, as Ange Postecoglou attempts to avoid a banana skin in the Arctic Circle’s artificial pitch, protecting their two-goal aggregate buffer.

Dominic Solanke scored a penalty in successive rounds to add a third, with Brennan Johnson taking just 30 seconds to fire Tottenham in front – James Maddison further setting the tone with his smart first-half finish.

Morgan Rogers bigs up Solanke online after Tottenham victory

Solanke was ice-cold from the spot to sit down goalkeeper Nikita Haikin, giving Tottenham Hotspur a 3-0 lead in North London on Thursday night.

While Ulrik Saltnes grabbed one back for Kjetil Knutsen’s Bodo late on, Spurs take a commanding lead to Norway next week.

It was the former Bournemouth striker who tucked away the decisive spot-kick in Frankfurt in the quarter-finals, too, making him the established available penalty taker for Postecoglou and one of the main men at Tottenham.

England teammate and Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers, who himself has made a serious impact both in Europe and the Premier League this term, congratulated Solanke on the Spurs man’s Instagram post (1 May).

Solanke posted his celebration photo, once again imitating Japanese anime, captioning with: “Half the battle done”.

Rogers commented with a simple but effective ‘cold’ face emoji, in keeping with his own popular celebration brought to further fame by his close friend, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer.

Spurs must navigate London derby before return leg

Tottenham cannot solely prepare for the trip to Scandinavia just yet, as they have the small matter of a London derby in the Premier League.

West Ham United play host at the London Stadium this Sunday (4 May), though both sides are willing their domestic campaigns to end following a deeply underwhelming year.

Spurs, in contrast to Graham Potter’s Hammers, at least have their European journey to fall back on – which if successful, could change the entire narrative and entire story surrounding N17 at present.

Manchester United have also taken one huge stride into a prospective all-English Europa League final, blowing away Athletic Club 3-0 in final venue Bilbao.