Tottenham Hotspur pulled off a sensational comeback to beat Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3-2 on aggregate in the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 on Thursday. The North London club was trailing 2-0 onaggregate and showing no signs of being capable of turning around the deficit at White Hart Lane until an incredible 13-minute spell in the second half.
First, ChristianEriksen scored in the 56th-minute, then Roman Zozulya, Dnipro’s goalscorer, was sent off for headbutting Jan Vertonghen six minutes later. Then,Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice in four minutes to put the host in position to qualify for the Round of 1.
“I was delighted with the character,” coach TimSherwood said after the game. “It’s Tottenham. We find a hard way to do it. You probably all thought we were dead and buried.” Indeed, Spurs’ reward for its come-from-behind performanceagainst the Ukrainian minnow? A two-game series against last season’s Europa League finalist, Benfica.