Tottenham Hotspur knocked out of the Europa League by Dinamo Zagreb
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Tottenham Hotspur have suffered a shock exit from the Europa league by the Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb as they came from 2-0 down in the first leg to win 3-2 on aggregate. Mislav Orsic scored a hat-trick to send Jose Mourinho’s men packing from Europe.
Tottenham Hotspur were unable to defend a 2-0 lead which they carried from the first leg. Dinamo Zagreb and the Croatian football fans have not had a more bigger occasion to celebrate than this extra-ordinary comeback against Premier league heavyweights Spurs.
Dinamo Zagreb’s head coach was sentenced to a 5 year jail term 3 days ahead of Tottenham match
Jose Mourinho laid out a decent team which after saying in his pre-match press conference that his side will play to win. However, Tottenham looked bereft of ideas in the final third as Zagreb shared most of the possession in the first half.
The Croats looked a well oiled machine despite missing their head coach, who was sentenced to jail 3 days before the tie. Damir Krznar’s name will be etched forever in the history books as he led Zagreb to a memorable victory.
Mislav Orsic scored a world class first goal as he cut in from the left and let fly a right-footed strike into the top right corner past Lloris in goal. The Croatian midfielder equalized the tie in the 82nd minute as Tottenham afforded Zagreb players plenty of room inside their penalty box as Orsic scored his second and sent the tie into extra-time.
The tie remained evely poised at 2-2 after the end of the first half of extra time. Jose Mourinho brought on Bale, Reguilon and Lo Celso looking for the all elusive Tottenham goal which would have probably killed off the tie. Zagreb scored their 3rd goal and the winner in the first minute of the 2nd half as Orsic grabbed his hat-trick with a solo goal running past 3 Tottenham defenders before finishing into the bottom right corner.
Livakovic made 3 heroic stops in goal for the Croatian side in the dying stages of the game to keep Zagreb in the tie. Harry Kane and Bale saw their efforts saved in goal and it was one of those nights for Tottenham when the ball just would not go in.
Dinamo Zagreb are now into the quarter finals of the Europa league as Jose Mourinho’s Spurs look to keep their domestic season alive after getting knocked out in Europe. The defeat will mean Tottenham realistically have only 1 shot at a trophy this season when they face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup finals in April.
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