Spurs knocked out of Europa League by Gent

February 24, 2017 Leave a comment

Ten-man Tottenham Hotspur were knocked out of the Europa League as Gent held them to a draw at a sell-out Wembley.

Spurs, who trailed 1-0 after the first leg of the last-32 tie, made a great start as Christian Eriksen slipped an angled shot under Gent keeper Lovre Kalinic.

The visitors equalised through Harry Kane’s own goal, leaving Spurs needing to score twice more in front of a Europa League record attendance of 80,465.

Their task became harder when midfielder Dele Alli was sent off shortly before half-time for a dangerous high tackle.

Victor Wanyama’s curler into the top-left corner revived Spurs’ hopes, only for substitute Jeremy Perbet to prod Gent into the last 16 with less than 10 minutes left.

Spurs’ elimination means they have only reached the Europa League quarter-finals once in the past six seasons.

Manchester United, who beat French side Saint-Etienne 4-0 on aggregate, will be the only British side in the last-16 draw on Friday (12:00 GMT).

Spurs pay price for Alli red card

Despite them needing to score at least twice as the match approached half-time, few would have written off Spurs.

But they were then reduced to 10 men after Alli’s poor tackle.

The 20-year-old England midfielder has previously shown glimpses of a fiery streak, alongside his technical brilliance, but this was the first red card of his career.

Alli felt referee Manuel de Sousa should have given him a free-kick close to the halfway line and briefly remonstrated with the Portuguese official before turning and launching into Genk midfielder Brecht Dejaegere with a studs-up challenge.

Alli caught Dejaegere just under his right knee – and luckily the Belgian appeared to escape serious injury.

Tottenham did not escape without damage, though.

Post-match reaction

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino:

“I am very disappointed. Once again we were excited to play today in front of our fans. We started well and scored. The tie was open but we conceded a goal in one action in the first half. After that it was complicated.

“I was very proud. We were brave and created chances and scored the second but could not get another. In the second half we played with energy.”

Wembley woes still apparent for Spurs….

Tottenham have won just one of their past eight matches at Wembley
Mauricio Pochettino’s side have conceded more goals in four European home games at Wembley this season (six) than they have in 12 Premier League games at White Hart Lane (five)
Gent became the first Belgian side to eliminate English opposition in major European competition (excluding qualifiers) since Standard Liege knocked out Everton in the 2008-09 Uefa Cup.
Spurs have been eliminated from eight of their past nine European knockout ties in which they have lost the first leg.
Since the start of 2013-14, Harry Kane has scored four own goals – twice as many as any other Tottenham player.