Bissouma opens account in hard-earned win at Loftus Road

Yves Bissouma's first goal in our colours and a late strike from Dane Scarlett made it two wins out of two in pre-season as we secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday afternoon.

Midfielder Bissouma produced some dazzling footwork to slide home the opener just before half-time and after we weathered some heavy second-half pressure from the hosts, substitute Scarlett converted Mikey Moore's cross three minutes from time - just moments after his introduction - to make the game safe.

It was another largely positive afternoon for Ange Postecoglou's squad at Loftus Road, the only downside being the first-half departure of Lucas Bergvall, who had again looked bright in the middle of the park before taking a knock in our box and being replaced by Dejan Kulusevski as we took no chances over the recent arrival.

There were three changes from the team that started at Hearts in midweek and one of those coming in, Pape Matar Sarr, was lively from the first whistle having missed the game in Edinburgh, seeing a shot blocked inside 45 seconds. We got into some good areas down the flanks in the early stages, but our crossing proved heavy at times before both goalkeepers were called into action with the half-hour mark approaching, Paul Nardi denying Heung-Min Son in a good chance for us before Brandon Austin tipped Rayan Kolli's rasping long-ranger onto the crossbar at the other end.

Rangers centre-forward Michael Frey had the ball in the net soon afterwards but was denied by an offside flag, before Bissouma - who had enjoyed an impressive outing - took control on 40 minutes, exchanging passes with Kulusevski as he tricked his way into the box and around Nardi to roll into the empty net. Son almost flicked home a second shortly afterwards with the inside of his right foot, while Timo Werner was denied by Nardi in the last action before the break.

With Kulusevski already on, we replaced the 10 remaining starters for the second period and saw a glorious chance to double our lead go begging just after the hour mark as Nardi denied Moore one-on-one after the 16-year-old was fed by the Sweden international. The hosts' substitutes started to ramp up the pressure and we had to stay resolute to keep our lead intact, Lyndon Dykes just unable to turn in a cross, Alfie Lloyd heading wide from a corner and Ziyad Larkeche seeing his effort from the edge of the box well blocked by Emerson Royal.

Substitute goalkeeper Luca Gunter then produced a key moment, pulling off a trademark flying save away to his left to tip Dykes' header onto the post in the 86th minute in what was the closest Rangers had gone to an equaliser. How crucial that would prove to be - just seconds later, Scarlett rammed home Moore's cross from the left just two minutes after coming off the bench to kill off the hosts' attempts at a fightback and ensure another victory was in the bag as we prepare to jet off on our pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea.

Match data

Goals: Spurs - Bissouma 40, Scarlett 87.

Referee: Gavin Ward.

Venue: Loftus Road.

Weather: Light cloud, gentle breeze, 24 degrees.