Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice to hand Tottenham Hotspur a
dramatic comeback against ten men Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk at White Hart Lane and
a place in the last 16 round of the Europa League.
Roman Zozulya gave the visitors the lead on 47 minutes when
he headed in Yevhen Konoplyanka's free-kick to put the Ukrainian giants in the
lead.
Christian Eriksen pulled the hosts level on the night with a
sublime free-kick before turning provider for the second, Adebayor's first
making it 2-1 on the night and 2-2 on aggregate with Dnipro at advantage with the away goal.
Adebayor got his second minutes later to seal the game and
turn it on Dnipro's head putting the score line at 3-2 on aggregate in favour
of his team and taking them to the next stage of the competition.
Following a shocking 1-0 loss to Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in
the first leg played in Ukraine last week, Tim Sherwood named a more attacking
line-up than the one that started in Ukraine, with Adebayor and Eriksen included
in the starting lineup.
The first half of the encounter was uneventful as both teams
were being cautious in their play and no real threat was made on each other’s
goal.
The Second half however was action packed. With just two minutes into the game, it was the visitors that took the
lead as Yevhen Konoplyanka's free kick found Roman Zozulya unmarked in the box
to head into the net and put his team 1-0 up, 2-0 on aggregate.
Knowing a defeat sends the team out of the competition,
Tottenham took control of the game, creating chance after chance and not long
Mousa Dembele saw his thumping shot go just inches onto the roof of the net
before Roberto Soldado's one-time shot when he was played through by Eriksen
was ruled for offside.
They won't have to wait for too long though, as Cristian
Eriksen curled in a superb free kick on 56th minute to pull his side level on
the night but still trailing on aggregate.
Zozulya was sent off for violent conduct when he head boot
Vertonghen in the box as Dnipro was trying to defend a free kick in their quest
to protect their lead.
The home side instantly explore the numerical
advantage as Eriksen whipped in a dangerous cross from the left which allowed
Adebayor to poke in from close range.
Four minutes later, the Togo striker put Spurs ahead in the
tie for the first time by controlling Zeki Fryers' long ball on his chest and
calmly stroking past Dnipro keeper, Denys Boyko.
The visitors almost stunned Spurs when Yevhen Konoplyanka
forced alert Hugo Lloris into a crucial injury-time save.
But the hosts held on to deny Dnipro's ex-Spurs boss Juande
Ramos on his return to his former club.
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