Tottenham beat Bodo/Glimt in semi-final first leg

Tottenham took a big step towards the Europa League final with a deserved first-leg win over Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt - but a late goal just leaves a little window of doubt.

It was one of Spurs' best performances of a wretched season domestically and leaves them two games away from a first trophy since 2008.

Ange Postecoglou's side took only 38 seconds to open the scoring as Brennan Johnson headed in from Richarlison's nod down.

And James Maddison doubled the lead when he brilliantly took down Pedro Porro's long ball before squeezing the ball into the bottom corner.

Dominic Solanke rolled in a nonchalant penalty for 3-0 after Cristian Romero was fouled.

Bodo/Glimt have made headlines in recent times for an intense style of football that has led to impressive results - but they were outplayed until Ulrik Saltnes' effort flew into the top corner via a deflection off Rodrigo Bentancur.

That was their only shot on target.

The other concern for Spurs was the loss of goalscorers Maddison and Solanke to injury in the second half.

The second leg in the Arctic Circle is no formality, with Glimt beating Porto, Besiktas, Olympiakos and Lazio at home this season.

Their win rate at home in the Europa League since 2022-23 is 70%, compared to 9% on the road.

An all-English final in Bilbao could be on the cards with Manchester United winning their tie 3-0 at Athletic Club.

Domestically Tottenham are facing their worst season since 1976–77, sitting in 16th place on little over a point per game. There is a good chance Australian Postecoglou will lose his job whatever happens in Europe now, such has been their debacle at home, but finishing on a trophy would be some way to go.

It is 17 years since Tottenham won the League Cup, their last bit of silverware. Mauricio Pochettino and serial winners Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte were unable to bring trophies to Spurs.

On top of ending that trophy drought, it would give Spurs a Champions League spot - despite sitting 23 points off those places in the league.

There was no chance Postecoglou was going to underestimate Glimt, who knocked his Celtic out of the Conference League 5-1 on aggregate three years ago.

But he could not have dreamed of their start as they scored a first-minute goal in a European game for only the second time in their history with Porro's cross ending up with Johnson netting his 17th goal of the season.

Maddison raced onto a Romero long ball before shooting over the bar but later on he made no mistake from a similar Porro pass. His first touch was excellent and he found the bottom corner despite having three Glimt players between him and the goal.

Spurs could have had a bigger lead at the break but Bentancur's volley was palmed over by Nikita Haikin.

And they did get their third when the video assistant referee spotted a foul on Romero, with Solanke calmly and casually stroking in the penalty.

Glimt dominated possession - with 70% of the ball in the second half - but barely created any chances until Saltnes, wearing the armband with captain Patrick Berg suspended for this first leg, popped up.

Barring a collapse on the artificial grass of the Aspmyra Stadion next Thursday, Tottenham will reach a fourth final in this competition after 1972, 1974 and 1984's two-legged showpieces in the Uefa Cup - winning the first and the last of those.

Source: BBC Sport