Moving the goalposts! Mourinho reveals woodwork mishap

Jose Mourinho joked about a bizarre incident ahead of Tottenham’s Europa League qualifier with Shkendija, when it was spotted the goalposts were too small.

Spurs ran out 3-1 winners in North Macedonia on Thursday, with Son Heung-min and Harry Kane scoring after Valmir Nafiu had cancelled out Erik Lamela’s opener.

Things may have been different, however, had Spurs’ goalkeepers not spotted something was off with the frame of the goal.

“Before the game was a funny situation because my goalkeepers told me the goal was small. I went to see and it was small,” Mourinho told a news conference.

“The goalkeepers spend all their time in them so we know. I felt immediately something was wrong and we got the UEFA delegate to come in and it was five centimetres too small.

“We asked for goals of the right dimensions.”

 

 

 

 

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I thought I had grown but then I realised the goal was 5 centimetres lower-Shkëndija 1 – 3 @spursofficial

A post shared by Jose Mourinho (@josemourinho) on Sep 24, 2020 at 1:37pm PDT

Son followed up his four-goal showing at Southampton with a goal and two assists, though Spurs made hard work of the tie until Kane came on from the bench, replacing the ineffective Dele Alli.

“We didn’t play magnificently but we did the job,” said Mourinho, whose side face Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday.

“We started very strongly and the thought was that we would kill the game but we didn’t. They gave us a difficult match and the fear we felt after the equaliser was fundamental to the team’s reaction.

“In the second half, after our changes, we [played better], and I like to see players come in and make an impact and the players who came on made a difference.”

Spurs must now see off Maccabi Haifa at home next week to seal a place in the group stages.