London: Mauricio Pochettino said everyone connected with Tottenham Hotspur “needed to cry” after the club’s new stadium finally staged its first football match.

The 62,000-seat arena, close to the north London club’s old home of White Hart Lane, has been beset by delays and reports of spiralling costs which, according to some estimates, have reached $1.32 billion.

But Sunday saw it play host to a maiden test event, with Tottenham’s Under-18 side beating their Southampton counterparts 3-1.

Club officials hope Spurs’ senior team will play their first match at the new ground, a Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace, on April 3.

Spurs’ J’Neil Bennett wrote his name into the history books by scoring the first ever goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a wonderful curling strike from the edge of the box that flew into the borttom corner. Sunday’s match was the first of two test events required in order to receive relevant safety certificates from Haringey council, with the second of these coming when a ‘legends’ team plays Inter Milan on Saturday.

Agence France-Presse