Life without Gareth Bale might be more than bearable for Tottenham Hotspur on the evidence of last night's 5-0 dismantling of Dinamo Tbilisi in the Georgian capital.
In the absence of the Real Madrid-bound talisman, new signings Roberto Soldado and Paulinho had a major say in the romp, but it was a less heralded member of the team who was singled out for praise by manager Andre Villas-Boas.
Andros Townsend, the England Under-21 winger, was impressive, opening the scoring with a piercing 50-yard run before calmly slotting the ball past goalkeeper Giorhi Loria. He also supplied an assist for Soldado, who scored twice, and for Paulinho, who grabed his maiden goal for the club. Danny Rose's first Tottenham goal in more than three years, sealed a win which virtually assures Spurs of a place in the group stages.
The 22-year-old Townsend excelled on loan at Queens Park Rangers last season, scoring twice in 12 appearances, but he was brought back down to earth when he was banned for four months - three suspended - after breaking betting rules.
However, Villas-Boas is delighted with how Townsend has responded. "Andros has been working well in training, so we felt it was time to give him an opportunity and he did very well," said the manager. "If we have the type of performance we had today [from him] we can always count on him.
"For all the young players we are bringing through, the competition is extremely difficult and, in my opinion, when you overcome that type of opposition you can only become a top player. He is doing it the right way. He seems very focused after last year's experience."
Villas-Boas was particularly pleased by the way his team grasped their chances. "The killer instinct was there," he said.
Swansea, too, showed a ruthless side as they meandered past Petrolul Ploiesti 5-1.
Two goals from Wayne Routledge and strikes from Michu, Alejandro Pozuelo and an own goal by goalkeeper Peterson Pecanha put the Romanians to bed before Gheorghe Grozav's stunning scissors-kick revitalised the visitors.
"We could have scored more but to get five at home was a nice feeling," said Routledge. "At the end it got sort of into a bar fight but it was nice to have the five goals by then."
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