It was third time lucky for Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham, as they finally ended their European Wembley woe with a 3-1 triumph over Russian outfit CSKA Moscow. It was just as well too, given that Spurs needed to avoid defeat to continue their European exploits by sealing third place and earning the consolation prize of a place in the Europa League Round of 32.
Their fixtures at the national stadium, where Spurs will play their European fixtures and all of next season’s home games whilst their traditional White Hart Lane home is being developed, have put pain to their Champions League hopes, after Spurs flopped on the wide turf in front of two record club crowds against Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen.
They had to come from behind at the third time of asking, but goals from Dele Alli, Harry Kane and an Igor Akinfeev own goal were the perfect reply to Alan Dzagoev’s 33rd minute opener to ensure Spurs continued their European adventure elsewhere, and it is an encouraging lift as the club bids to make Wembley a happy temporary home, with their state of the art 61,000 capacity arena not due to be ready until the beginning of the 2018/19 season.
But what did we learn from their first Wembley win in seven competitive games at the national stadium as Spurs cruised into the Europa League?