Ten-man Spurs exit Europa League

Monday, 27 February 2017 01:55 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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Gent players celebrate at the end of the match against Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 Second Leg at the Wembley Stadium in London, England - Reuters

Reuters: Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League hopes were crushed by mid-table Belgian side Gent, who booked their spot in the last 16 with a 2-2 draw at Wembley on Thursday as the hosts paid the penalty for Dele Alli’s first-half red card.

Gent, eighth in their domestic league, went through 3-2 on aggregate after the second leg of the last-32 tie and will be joined in Friday’s draw by Olympique Lyonnais who won 7-1 at home to AZ Alkmaar for an 11-2 triumph over two legs.

Borussia Moenchengladbach stormed back from 3-0 down on aggregate to beat Fiorentina thanks to a 12-minute hat-trick from Lars Stindl and AS Roma cruised into the next round 4-1 despite a 1-0 home defeat against Villarreal.

Europa League favourites Manchester United beat St Etienne 1-0 away on Wednesday for a 4-0 aggregate victory.

Spurs had begun in front of a record Europa League crowd of 80,465 at Wembley, where they have played European home games this term due to building work at White Hart Lane, and levelled the aggregate score after 10 minutes through Christian Eriksen.

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Tottenham Hotspur Captain Harry Kane

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Dele Alli (right)

But an own goal that glanced off the head of Spurs striker Harry Kane 10 minutes later put Gent back in the driving seat, before a moment of madness from Alli sealed Tottenham’s fate.

The England midfielder showed the short fuse that was a factor in his early career as he leapt two-footed into a knee high challenge to draw a red card five minutes before halftime.

Spurs restored their advantage on the night with a thumping strike from midfielder Victor Wanyama but Jeremy Perbet, who grabbed the only goal in the first leg, scored again with a deflected effort after 82 minutes to end the hosts’ hopes.

“I am very disappointed,” said Tottenham’s Argentine manager Mauricio Pochettino. “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.”