Dominic Solanke told us these were the nights all footballers dream of - and he had his dream moment in front of the South Stand as we secured a 3-1 win against Bodo/Glimt in the first leg of our UEFA Europa League semi-final on Thursday night.
The striker was handed the responsibility from the spot after Cuti Romero was fouled by Jens Petter Hauge on the hour. As the 60,000 Spurs fans in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium held their collective breath, it felt like Dominic was in another zone all together - a look, a couple of steps and a side-foot into the corner like he was playing in the park, let alone a semi-final of a major European competition.
That made it 3-0 after first half goals from Brennan Johnson and James Maddison. Further chances came and went as we racked up 23-2 efforts at goal, only for the Norwegian champions to grab a goal back late on, leaving it all to play for in Bodo next week - a place in the final in Bilbao up for grabs.
Dominic and his team-mates were certainly struck by the atmosphere inside the stadium, as he told us on the Review Show. “The fans made the atmosphere great from the start. We were all pumped, I’m sure they were too, and to get that early goal was surreal really, to start the game like that definitely gave us an early boost.
“That’s what the fans can do, you know, when we’re all together as one - players, fans - it feels so special. We knew from minute one that everyone was behind us. We came out and saw the white shirts everywhere, the flags waving, it gave us that extra motivation and confidence and that’s what we love coming and playing for.”
Dominic on what it was like walking out into the stadium...
“Yeah, magnificent, really. I think these are the games that we dream of playing in as footballers, you know, big games, semi-finals, finals, obviously at home with the atmosphere rocking like that, that makes it 10 times better.”
Dominic on the game plan, particularly a patience in how we pressed...
“Tournament football is a bit different. If you make too many mistakes, you can get a punished and then it's hard to get back into the game. We’re a super pressing team, but we know if we’re not set up right we need to make sure we don’t make too many mistakes in our pressing, we want to press but it’s not always the right time.”
Dominic on the penalty...
“I think I was a little bit too cool today! It was it was another nice penalty, great to get another goal in a big game like this, delighted.”
Dominic on the feeling of slotting home that spot-kick in front of the South Stand...
“Yes, it's a real feeling. Like I just said, playing in these games is what we all dream of and scoring is even better. I was delighted to get on the scoresheet.”
Dominic on the second leg in Bodo...
“We know how good they are at home, we knew that from the second they got through and that we were going to play them. We knew it was going to be tough, but we wanted to use that home advantage today, which we did. Conditions over there will be different to what we're used to, but we’ll prepare just as hard.”
Dominic on the atmosphere again - and wanting more...
“Yeah, look, 100% we all want to win trophies, the players the staff, we know the fans have been waiting for a few years now, so hopefully we can do it. We know we haven't been good enough in the league this year, but if we can manage to go on and win this, it will go a long way...”