Radu Dragusin suffered a horror start on his first European start for Tottenham as the defender was sent off following a straight red card offence in Spurs’ Europa League opener.
Ange Postecoglou was hoping to kick-start his side’s quest for a first European trophy with the visit of Azerbaijan side Qarabag FK and decided to rota mix of players for the tie.
Dragusin had played in just two matches this season before Thursday’s cup clash and was given the chance to put himself in Postecoglou’s future plans with a start on the UEFA stage.
However, the 22-year-old, who joined in January for £25m, soon found himself wishing the Tottenham pitch would swallow him up after a torrid piece of defending less than 10 minutes into the game.
Dragusin let a simple pass from one of his team-mates drift past him near the halfway line and allowing Qarabag striker Juninho to steal possession and have a clear run on goal.
Radu Dragusin suffered a horror start on his first European start for Tottenham as the defender was sent off after just seven minutes
The Spurs centre-back was shown a red card after bundling Qarabag striker Juninho to the ground
Unable to catch the Brazilian, Dragusin instead decided to pull him down to the ground that prompted an immediate red card from the referee.
Spurs fans were left fuming following their defender’s moment of madness, with one critic on X hitting out at the Romanian, stating: ‘Dragusin that is diabolical defending.’
Another unhappy supporter similarly fumed: ‘No complaints from me, stupid from Dragusin there.’
Others weren’t quite as harsh with one post stating: ‘Knew it was a red straight away as soon as he got past Dragusin. Stopped a clear attack. Correct decision from the ref. Should’ve just let him go on to goal. Not worth it.’
Dragusin offered little protest to his sending off and walked glumly back to the dugout as Postecoglou staunched the dugout looking furious as what was meant to be a comfortable tie was now unnecessarily difficult.
However, Spurs adjusted well after going down to 10-men and scored a quick opener just five minutes after Dragusin’s untimely departure as Qarabag looked short of ideas.
Brennan Johnson finished off a neat attacking move to relieve some pressure before Qarabag grew in confidence and went close with a couple of chances of their own just before half-time.