Tottenham marched into their final Europa League Thursday evening of the year with two simple objectives: to secure the victory that would place them as Group J victors and to do so while preserving key players ahead of a suffocating Christmas to come. In the end, they achieved both feats well enough, concluding as 2-0 winners over Royal Antwerp with second-half goals provided by Carlos Vinícius and Giovani Lo Celso.
Over their previous 19 games Tottenham’s only loss came against Royal Antwerp in Belgium six weeks ago, who finished as 1-0 winners . It reflected perhaps the only thing that has not quite worked well for Spurs this season – the insipid performances when José Mourinho has attempted to rest his best players and rotate his team in Europa League away fixtures.
