After Arsenal, Spurs continue in Europe too

The evening when, in the Europa League, the more powerful, expensive, and higher-quality teams, with greater or lesser effort, eliminated their competition and secured a spot in the quarterfinals. Manchester United knocked out Real Sociedad, Lazio eliminated Plzen, Lyon defeated Romanian side FCSB, and Tottenham also secured their place among the top eight. It wasn’t smooth sailing or overly convincing, but the London club did the job in the second leg, overcoming a one-goal deficit from Alkmaar (1-0) and, thanks to two goals from Wilson Odobert, set up a clash with Eintracht Frankfurt – 3-1.

The match at the new White Hart Lane was completely dominated by the young player whom Tottenham paid Burnley nearly 30 million euros for last June. Odobert struggled to get minutes under Ange Postecoglou, having played just 10 matches and under 400 minutes of football before tonight. But thanks to two assists from Dominic Solanke, he finally broke through, helping Tottenham stay in contention for their only possible trophy this season—their first since 2008. Solanke provided two perfect assists for the 20-year-old Frenchman: first in the 26th minute to give Spurs the lead, and then again in the 74th minute. The latter came from a magical backheel pass from the Englishman, allowing Odobert to redeem himself after a costly mistake he and Lucas Bergvall made just ten minutes earlier, leading to an equalizer scored by Teun Koopmeiners. Bergvall bore more of the blame, but Odobert "made amends" for both of them. Interestingly, Tottenham became the only team in the history of major European competitions to have five players under the age of 21 score in the same season. Before Odobert, goals were also scored by forwards Dane Scarlett and Will Lankshear, as well as wingers Damola Ajayi and Mikey Moore.

Tottenham completely controlled the first half, allowing their opponent just two shots and none on target. By the 48th minute, they were already leading 2-0 thanks to a combination between Heung-Min Son, who assisted, and James Maddison, who finished. AZ didn’t look like a team capable of making a comeback and wouldn’t have caused much trouble in North London if not for the gifted goal. Tonight, they weren’t severely punished, but the final stages of the Europa League won’t tolerate mistakes like today’s. Their next opponent is a fired-up Eintracht Frankfurt, with the in-form Hugo Ekitike leading the charge. If they reach the semifinals, a more likely matchup would be against Lazio rather than Bodo/Glimt. And in a potential final, their rivals could be Manchester United, Athletic Bilbao, or Lyon...

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - ROUND OF 16

Second leg

Thursday

Ath. Bilbao - Roma 3-1 (1-0)

/Williams 48, 82, Berchiche 68 - Paredes 90+3 pen/

Athletic win 4-3 on agg

Eintr. Frankfurt - Ajax 4-1 (2-0)

/Bahoya 7, Gotze 27, 82, Ekitike 67 - Taylor 78/

Eintracht win 6-2 on agg

Lazio - Plzen 1-1 (0-0)

/Romagnoli 77 - Sulc 52/

Lazio win 3-2 on agg

Olympiakos - Bodo 2-1 (0-1)

/Yaremchuk 53, 65 - Hogh 36/

Bodo win 4-2 on agg

Man. Utd. - Real Sociedad 4-1 (1-1)

/Fernandes 16 pen, 50 pen, 87, Dalot 90+1 -Oyarzabal 10 pen/

Man. United win 4-2 on agg

Olympique Lyon - FCSB4-0 (2-0)

/Mikautadze 14, 47 Nuamah 37, 88/

Lyon win 7-1 on agg

Rangers - Fenerbahce 0-2 (0-1)

/Syzmanski 45, 73/

Rangers win on penalties

Tottenham - AZ Alkmaar 3-1 (1-0)

/Odobert 26, 74, Maddison 48 - Koopmeiners 63/

Tottenham win 3-2 on agg