Tottenham needed penalties to get the better of a stubborn Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium on Wednesday night.
With scores locked at 1-1 at full-time in the Sydney Super Cup clash, a shootout was held to find a winner, and it was the Premier League club that prevailed 4-2.
Sydney substitute Joe Lacey’s spot kick hit the post, while defender Alex Popovic had his penalty saved by Tottenham goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
Spurs replacement Dane Scarlett scored the winning penalty, with his team now switching its attention to Saturday night’s clash at Accor Stadium against London-rivals Chelsea, who were 6-4 winners over the Western Sydney Wanderers on Tuesday night.
Earlier, the Sky Blues’ new Japanese signing Takahiro Sekine was on target for the A-League club, who trailed 1-0 at half-time thanks to a superb free-kick from Spurs’ French star Mathys Tel.
Sydney captain Rhyan Grant said it was “very special” to play against a Premier League club.
“It’s not too often we get world-class teams coming out to Australia,” Grant told Paramount Plus.
“It’s pretty rare to be able to test yourself against some of the best players in the world.”
Sydney goalkeeper Gus Hoefsloot, who was playing in the absence of injured first-choice gloveman Harrison Devenish-Meares, almost gifted Spurs the lead in the fifth minute with a poor pass that went straight to Tel.
However, Tel couldn’t make the most of the chance, directing his shot straight at a grateful Hoefsloot, who punched the ball to safety.
Spurs had another great opportunity in the 13th minute when midfielder Conor Gallagher was found unmarked in the heart of Sydney’s penalty area.
Fortunately for the Sky Blues, Gallagher failed to connect cleanly with a weak effort.
Sydney’s first chance came in the 24th minute when midfielder Rhys Youlley’s long-distance strike was saved by Spurs’ veteran gloveman Dubravka.
Eventually it took a brilliant free-kick from Tel to break the deadlock in the 29th minute.
His curling 20-metre was too good for Hoefsloot, whose positioning was questionable.
Gallagher had a chance to double Tottenham’s lead seven minutes later, but his shot hit the post.
The woodwork again came to Spurs’ rescue early in the second-half when Spurs substitute Luca Williams-Barnett’s powerful shot hit the crossbar.
Against the run of play, the Sydneysiders equalised in the 55th minute through Sekine.
The move was started by Sky Blues midfielder Tiago Quintal, whose pass was too much for Tottenham’s Japanese defender Kota Takai to deal with.
Takai’s attempt to intercept Quintal’s pass only resulted in the ball falling into the path of Sekine, who produced a composed, first-time finish to open his Sydney account.
Spurs’ new 100 million-pound ($A191.42 million) signing, Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali, came on at the start of the second-half.
However, the match-day squad didn’t includes the likes of star trio Micky van de Ven, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke, who were perhaps being kept fresh for their team’s weekend clash against Chelsea.
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