Gareth Bale of Tottenham Hotspur challenges for the high ball with Sven Sprangler of Wolfsberger AC during the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 match between Wolfsberger AC and Tottenham Hotspur at Puskas Arena on February 18, 2021 in Budapest, Hungary.
Gareth Bale scored and assisted a Tottenham goal in the same game for the first time since 2013 as they beat Wolfsberger in the Europa League.
Bale crossed for Son Heung-min to head the opener and then cut inside and blasted home their second goal.
Lucas Moura added a fine solo goal before half-time in Budapest.
But Michael Liendl's penalty gave Wolfsberger hope and Christopher Wernitznig hit the bar - before Carlos Vinicius probably killed the tie.
𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟-𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 ⏱️ So far, so good in the tie as a strong performance in Budapest sees us take a 4-1 lead into the return leg next week!
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 18, 2021
⚪️ #WAC 1-4 #THFC 🟡 pic.twitter.com/9DHsp3O4Tz
Spurs boss Jose Mourinho spoke beforehand about how much he wants to win the Europa League and named a strong team, although Harry Kane was left in London for fitness reasons.
They were excellent in the first half but were much less impressive after replacing Son with Vinicius at half-time.
Wolfsberger were limited opposition, sitting sixth in the Austrian league and in a European knockout game for the first time. The game had to be played six hours away in Budapest, Hungary because of Covid restrictions.
The second leg is next Thursday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.