Roma vs Tottenham Hotspur. International Champions Cup.
SDCCU StadiumAttendance18,861.
Thursday 26 July 2018 10:24, UK
A first-half onslaught from Lucas Moura and Fernando Llorente gave Spurs a 4-1 win over Roma in San Diego.
Having trailed inside four minutes to Patrik Shick's composed finish, Spurs never looked back in their first game of the International Champions Cup once Llorente responded by heading in from close-range (9).
He then completed a rapid turnaround by turning in Lucas Moura's rebound from close-range (18), before the impressive Brazilian took control for himself.
Lucas ghosted in between the Roma defence to nod Serge Aurier's cross beyond Antonio Mirante (28) before doubling his money a minute before the break, taking a touch before blasting a left-footed effort into the far corner from 12 yards.
The Lucas-inspired first-half looked a million miles away when Shick put Roma in front with the game barely started, profiting from some hesitant Spurs defending before dragging the ball back from Ben Davies and firing it beyond a helpless Michel Vorm.
That fast start soon fizzled out when a cross from Luke Amos took a wicked deflection off Lucas Pellegrini, before landing on the head of Llorente, who had a simple task to nod in from six yards.
Spurs never looked back - and took the lead nine minutes later when the game saw its first glimpse of Lucas, who turned an Eriksen cross goalwards and when Mirante parried, Llorente was presented with another chance he could not miss.
Pochettino's side continued their recovery by adding a third when from the latest of a succession of corners, Moura found himself between Kostas Manolas and Juan Jesus to add a header of his own from Aurier's cross.
A minute before the break he finished a move he started when Moussa Sissoko's cross was palmed back into this path, and after shifting the ball onto his left he smashed it in low for a fourth of the evening.
After the break, both sides sprung a surprise by keeping the same teams - and Roma showed they were hurting with a more concerted effort from the off.
When they did make changes, Justin Kluivert and Edin Dzeko impressed, the latter forcing fellow substitute Paulo Gazzaniga into a sprawling stop.
There was little else to remember from a second half which was an exercise in patience for Tottenham, and one which allowed them to run out comfortable winners.
