FULL TIME: Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Gent (agg 2-3)
Gent nearly find a winner, Coulibaly storming down the left and crossing deep for Perbet, whose shot is parried at the far post by Lloris. And that’s that! Gent, to the delight of their vociferous travelling support, are through to the last 16! Spurs are out. Gent, impressive in defence and ambitious in attack, thoroughly deserve their victory, while Dele Alli thoroughly deserves the mother of all bollockings for the ludicrous and frankly unpleasant tackle which forced Spurs to compete for 50-odd minutes with ten men. Let’s hope he has the good grace to apologise to his team-mates, and to poor Brecht Dejaegere.
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90 min +2: Vertonghen lumps long. Kalinic comes to the edge of his box to claim. Mitrovic rises and heads the ball past him, but fortunately for Gent it’s wide right of the goal. It’s not even going out for a corner.
90 min +1: The first of three added minutes. Coulibaly is booked for a foul on Walker in the middle of the park. After the restart, Kane turns tightly on the left-hand corner of the Gent box, and curls a fine effort inches wide of the right-hand post. That’s a glorious effort, but this is over.
90 min: A corner for Spurs out on the right. Eriksen sends it into the mixer. It drops to the boot of Wanyama, ten yards out. His shot is deflected out for another corner, which is easily cleared by the visitors.
89 min: Janssen comes on for Dier. The Gent fans are filling Wembley with plenty of noise.
88 min: Wanyama has been booked, we didn’t see why. And now Winks has been cautioned for arguing over a common-or-garden free kick in the midfield. Indiscipline has done for Spurs this evening.
86 min: Kane romps into the Gent half and slides the ball to Son on the right. Son has time and space just inside the box, and must make Kalinic work at least. But he blasts wildly over.
85 min: Dier, who had played Coulibaly onside as well as teeing up Perbet for the goal, takes out his frustration on a linesman. He gets right up in his grille, a totally out of proportion reaction over a throw-in. Maybe he wanted a free kick for a previous tussle. Even so.
84 min: Walker makes his way down the right and is stopped illegally by Verstraete, who is booked. The resulting free kick doesn’t lead to anything useful.
GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Gent (Perbet 82; agg 2-3)
Spurs are all over the shop at the back. A simple ball down the middle allows Coulibaly to stride into acres of space down the left. He reaches the box and looks for Perbet in the middle. The cross clanks off Dier’s chest and drops for the striker, who pokes softly into the bottom right-hand corner from ten yards. Tottenham’s race looks run, unless something very dramatic happens in the next ten minutes. They now need two goals.
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81 min: Vertonghen strides down the inside-left channel and would be free in the box had Eriksen not slipped midway through a one-two.
79 min: Son probes down the right and earns a corner off Mitrovic. That’s wonderful pestering, Son was very much second favourite in that battle. But the set piece comes to nothing as the same player fails to control a short pass. Meanwhile the clock keeps ticking.
77 min: A corner for Spurs down the right. Alderweireld wins a header, rising on the penalty spot, but can only send it lamely wide left.
76 min: Simon’s missed header was his last contribution this evening. He’s hooked in favour of the first-leg hero Perbet. Spurs meanwhile trade Dembele for Winks.
74 min: Walker is booked for a ludicrously late slide on Gershon. A timing cock-up, rather than anything malicious.
73 min: Saief drops a shoulder to scoot past Dier with ease. He’s free down the left, and crosses deep for the unmarked Simon, who flashes a header into the side netting from eight yards. He should have scored. The away fans momentarily think he did, and celebrate accordingly. The home supporters counter pretty much as you’d imagine.
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71 min: Eriksen is this close to releasing Kane down the inside-right channel, but the ball hits the lucky Gershon on the back. Spurs are knocking and knocking, but time is beginning to run out now.
69 min: You’d think it was Gent playing with ten men. Walker dribbles at pace down the right, but with team-mates in the middle, opts for a near-post finish. He lashes the ball into the side netting. On the touchline, Mauricio Pochettino performs the dance of the highly irate.
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68 min: Son has made a difference since coming on. He scoots down the right, reaches the by-line and nearly finds Kane at the near post with a low cross. Kane can’t connect. The ball’s put out of play by a yellow shirt on the other side. Corner, which nearly sees Gershon steer a header into his own net from six yards. Kalinic smothers and saves his team-mate’s blushes.
66 min: Kane slides a pass down the inside-right channel and nearly releases Eriksen into the box. Gigot sticks a boot out as the Spurs man attempts to go clear. It’s a fine block, though Eriksen claims a penalty. He’s not getting it. Spurs recycle the ball down the other flank; Alderweireld blooters high and wide from an ambitious range.
64 min: Vertonghen and Foket tangle near the centre circle. Foket pulls the Spurs man down. Vertonghen demands a yellow card, but gets one himself for attempting to referee the game in a bellicose fashion.
63 min: Wembley is bouncing again, but this time it’s the home fans giving it plenty. This is going to be a hell of a half hour!
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GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Gent (Wanyama 61; agg 2-2)
What a goal! Son dances down the left and fires a low cross into the centre. Kane and Eriksen somehow mess up from six yards. No matter! The ball’s recycled to Walker on the right. He slips the ball inside, Eriksen tees it up with a gentle backflick, and Wanyama, level with the right-hand post, 12 yards out, creams a shot into the top left! Spurs are right back in this! One more goal, and they’re through!
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59 min: Walker is found yet again - yet again - in space on the right. His looping cross finds Kane in the centre, but the striker’s header flashes over the crossbar. He’s getting close.
58 min: Spurs roll the dice: Son comes on for Davies.
57 min: Saief gives the ball away in the middle of the park again. Eriksen picks it up and drives down the inside-right channel. He slips the ball forward for Kane, who is one on one with Kalinic, albeit out wide, and at a tight angle. He should still get a shot on target, though, but pulls it across the face of goal and out to the left. Spurs are beginning to create chances, though; there is still hope for the ten men.
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55 min: No, Dejaegere can’t continue. With blood on his sock from the Alli tackle, he limps off to be replaced by Verstraete.
53 min: Kane is playing the role of No10 very well at the minute. Again he sits a little deep, turns on a sixpence and flicks a clever ball through a small gap down the inside-left channel. Eriksen is sprung clear into the area, and he tries to round Kalinic. But the keeper has read the situation well, and smothers. So close to getting Spurs back into this tie. Just one goal, and it’s suddenly a realistic prospect.
51 min: Walker makes good down the right yet again. He’s been excellent tonight. His low cross nearly finds Kane on the edge of the six-yard area, but Gershon intercepts brilliantly, just in time. Tonight’s attendance is 80, 465, incidentally. A Europa League record. Which gives us an excuse to be pious: Dele Alli has let every single one of them down.
49 min: Kane, on the edge of the Gent D, wedges a cute pass into the area for the marauding Vertonghen. But Mitrovic is wise to the grift, and ushers Vertonghen out of harm’s way before making off with the ball.
47 min: Saief plays a loose ball in the midfield, allowing Eriksen to blitz down the right wing. He turns this way and that, before snatching at his shot from the edge of the box, the ball trundling harmlessly out of play on the right.
We’re on the move again. Gent get the ball rolling for the second half. They make a change: Matton comes on for Milicevic. Dejaegere is still out there, incidentally, having spent the interval working on the leg worked over by Dele Alli.
In case you missed the breaking news, look at the state of this:
Leicester were 5,000-1 to win the Premier League last year. They were 5,000-1. And look what’s just happened to the author of that fairytale. Here’s Leicester fan Rai Skrupskis: “I just don’t know what to think. But I like Simon’s plan (29 min).”
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HALF TIME: Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Gent (agg: 1-2)
Now it’s Eriksen’s turn to have a long-range blast. Nope. And that’s that for the first half. Spurs started well, but Gent are in the driving seat now. Spurs need two second-half goals to make the last 16. Here, I don’t fancy being Dele Alli when a frowning Mauricio Pochettino reaches the dressing room.
45 min: Kane tries to beat an out-of-position Kalinic from the halfway line. Not close, but full marks for ambition.
44 min: Vertonghen hoicks a speculative effort over the bar from distance. Kalinic is booked for taking an age over the resulting goal kick. Dejaegere doesn’t look like he’s going to be able to continue. He really has been in the wars.
42 min: The red mist really did come down on Alli there. He had been knocked off the ball a couple of seconds earlier, and probably deserved a free kick. But you can’t be responding to a garden-variety refereeing mistake like that.
RED CARD! Dele Alli (Spurs)
39 min: This is a disgraceful challenge by Alli, and he can have no argument about his dismissal. He crumps his boot on Dejaegere’s shin, contesting a 50-50 ball with ludicrous intent. Dejaegere’s foot was planted, and his leg bent in sickening fashion. Fortunately, it’s not a break, he’s up and about again soon enough. But that’s the sort of foul that could cause serious injury. Spurs are really up against it now, after an act of extreme stupidity.
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38 min: Walker is being afforded far too much time and space out on the right. He’s found in acres yet again, and once more his low cross only just fails to find Kane.
37 min: Dejaegere twisted his knee in his efforts to score there. Looks like he’ll be OK, as he’s back up and running having been magic sponged. But he is grimacing quite a lot.
35 min: Gent come back at Spurs, through Simon down the left. He twists and turns, earning a corner. This one’s hit long, too. Coulibaly rises and heads into the thicket of players in front of him. Simon tries to tee up Dejaegere on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Dembele gets a boot in to stop a certain goal. Dier hacks clear. Spurs are living dangerously at these corners.
34 min: Walker is found in acres down the right. He’s been very impressive tonight. He storms into the area and lashes a shot towards the top right. Kalinic turns it round the post for a corner, and the set piece is a non-event. Meanwhile here’s Peter Oh: “Kane can score an own-goal perfect hat-trick today, and it would be only a tiny blip compared to the massive howler that the Leicester directors have managed.”
31 min: Spurs are nearly caught out as they faff around at the back. But an exquisite Dembele turn gets them out of trouble, and in a split second Walker is tearing down the right. His low cross nearly finds Kane steaming in at the far post, but Gigot bundles the ball out for a corner. The set piece is wasted as Spurs revert to faffing, Dembele dribbling down a dead end and eventually fouling Foket out of frustration.
29 min: More space for Davies down the left. He earns a corner off Foket. Eriksen’s set piece fizzes through the six-yard box. Dele Alli tries a back-flick, and Wanyama can’t connect at the far post. Another chance for a simple finish! But once again, it’s spurned. Meanwhile Brother Simon is back. “Ah, I get it now. They’re going to reappoint Nigel Pearson, finish strongly to stay up, then bring back Ranieri in the summer, thus winning the league again in 2018.”
26 min: Kane, jogging down the right, is stopped in an agricultural manner by Saief, who is booked. The free kick comes to nothing.
25 min: Kane should have scored, and made up for his own goal. Alli slides a lovely pass down the left to release Davies into space. Davies hits a first-time cross into the area, a low ball that evades the Gent defence. Kane seems to lose his balance as he runs to meet the ball, though, and gets his feet all tangled up. For a second, it looked like he would surely sidefoot home from six yards. But the danger is gone.
23 min: Dejaegere is booked for a cynical tug on Eriksen’s shirt, 30 yards from goal. It’s Paul Gascoigne Country. But there’s to be no re-run of the 1991 FA Cup semi against Arsenal. The free kick is clumped straight into the wall by Alderweireld.
22 min: Alli has a blast from distance. It’s high and not particularly handsome. Wembley is bouncing, and it’s the away fans who are doing all the work.
GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Gent (Kane og 20)
Gent go straight up the other end, though Milicevic down the left. The Gent forward enters the area and is about to shoot when Alderweireld slides in to tackle brilliantly. What a saver! But it’s all in vain, as the corner from the left is hit long. Mitrovic rises high and heads back into the mixer. Kane, trying to clear, loses his bearings and guides the ball into the top left. A precious away goal for Gent. We can’t have extra time now. And Spurs need three to progress.
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18 min: Vertonghen channels his inner Franz Beckenbauer and dribbles with great purpose down the inside-left channel. He one-twos with Alli, skips past the sliding Mitrovic in the box, and reaches the by-line. It’s a fantastic run, but his pullback, intended for Alli, doesn’t quite find his man. Such a shame.
16 min: Walker diddles his way down the inside-right channel, this way and that. He ties Gershon up in knots, but having made some space on the edge of the box, blasts a wild effort high and wide right. Spurs have found their groove, though. Meanwhile, here’s Simon McMahon. “That entry on 4 mins is a wind up, right?” Nope. “At least Claudio Ranieri leaves as a reigning Premier League champion, with his (former) club still in the Champions League. Furthermore, he has his dignity. Which is more than can be said for those that made the decision.” Preach on, brother McMahon.
13 min: This is the only scoreline which would lead to extra time. Spurs clearly don’t fancy an extra 30 minutes tonight, and are after another goal quick-smart. The ever-impressive Dele Alli sashays down the left, cuts into the box, and curls one towards the top left. The ball hits Foket’s dangling arm. Alli wants a penalty kick, but he’s not getting it. You’ve seen them given for that, as Foket’s arm was quite a way from his body, but the players were pretty close together, and that probably influenced the referee’s decision.
12 min: Spurs, with a great sense of urgency, come at Gent again. Walker, who has been busy from the get-go, races down the right and slips a ball sideways into the box for Alli. It bobbles before Alli can make contact, and his sidefoot squirts off to the left of the target. But that was a crisp move.
GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Gent (Eriksen 10)
This is so simple! Alderweireld hoicks high and long down the right. Gershon and Mitrovic confuse each other under the high ball, allowing Eriksen to scoot clear towards the box! He takes a touch, steadies himself, and slips a cucumber-cool finish past Kalinic! He rushes to gather the ball from the net. Spurs are in Business Mode!
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8 min: Eriksen busies himself down the right. Kane looks to get something on target, but can’t find a way through. It’s all a bit scrappy.
6 min: Not much happening in this game, meanwhile. Alli has 0.0000001 of a second to fashion a shot on the edge of the Gent area. Predictably, given the window of opportunity, he snatches it and the ball screws harmlessly wide to the left.
4 min: Claudio Ranieri has been sacked by Leicester City. What an awful shame. Relegation wouldn’t have sullied their title, you know. This has soured the fairytale all right, though.
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2 min: Walker gets on the ball again, finding a bit of space down the right. His ball along the channel is overhit, and Alli can’t get on the end of it.
And we’re off! Spurs get the party started. A huge roar as they send the ball forward and lose it within 13 seconds. But they soon regain possession, and Walker makes off down the right. His low cross is intercepted by Mitrovic, who did very well with a couple of white shirts closing him down. A lovely brisk start!
The teams are out! Spurs are in their famous lilywhite strip, while Gent are in second-choice Borussia Dortmund style neon yellow. A rare old atmosphere ringing around Wembley in anticipation of a cracker. We’ll be off in a minute!
Hein Vanhaezebrouck, the Gent head coach, is in a very breezy mood. “I think it’s going to be a great game! There are so many Belgian fans over here. It will be great for the players. We are looking forward to playing. We have to score, I think. If we don’t, it is going to be very difficult for us. The quicker we score, the better, but if we need to score in the last minute to qualify, I will be pleased with that also! We have two good strikers. Perbet did well at home, but now I am giving Coulibaly the chance. Maybe Perbet will need to come in to make the difference at the end. But both are ready to play!”
Mauricio Pochettino speaks! “It will be an interesting game. We need to keep a good balance between attack and defence. It’s a 90-minute game, and we’re only 1-0 down, so it’s important to be patient. We will try to score as soon as possible, but we have time. We will compete; it will be tough. This is like a final. Wembley is a fantastic place to play football, and we have 90,000 fans, which is fantastic. It is important that we start to feel that Wembley is our home. The Fulham win was important, it was important to rediscover that feeling and regain our confidence.”
Pre-match entertainment: The country has been battered by high winds today. They’ve eased off now, which is an awful shame, as what we’d give for some classic comic cuts like this at Wembley tonight. Thanks to your good friend and mine, Rob Smyth, who remembers all this stuff so we don’t have to.
Spurs make four changes to the XI which started the FA Cup stroll at Craven Cottage last weekend. Michel Vorm, Kieran Trippier, Heung-Min Son and Harry Winks make way for Hugo Lloris, Kyle Walker, Eric Dier and Mousa Dembele.
Gent swap three players from the side sent out to earn a 1-1 draw at St Liege in the Belgian First Division on Sunday. Renato Neto, Nana Asare and Yuya Kubo are replaced by Rami Gershon, Brecht Dejaegere and Moses Simon.
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Tonight's teams
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Walker, Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies, Wanyama, Dembele, Eriksen, Dele, Kane.
Subs: Vorm, Wimmer, Trippier, Winks, Sissoko, Son, Janssen.
Gent: Kalinic, Gershon, Mitrovic, Gigot, Saief, Esiti, Dejaegere, Foket, Simon, Coulibaly, Milicevic.
Subs: Rinne, Matton, Kalu, Perbet, De Smet, Verstraete, Ibrahim.
Referee: Manuel De Sousa (Portugal).
Good evening!
Tottenham Hotspur need to seriously raise their continental game. Home defeats to Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco sent them packing from this season’s Champions League; now a limp away defeat in Gent seriously threatens their continued participation in the Europa version. Jérémy Perbet’s first-leg goal has given the mid-table Belgians a half-time advantage, setting Spurs something of a poser. They need to score tonight, but without the insurance of an away goal in their pocket, can’t go too gung-ho. “We need to be clever ... aggressive and ... patient,” stresses Maurico Pochettino, perhaps wary that Wembley hasn’t provided too many home comforts so far this season.
Harry Kane doesn’t consider Spurs temporary base a problem, though. Spurs did beat CSKA Moscow here in their final Champions League group game, easily enough, after a fashion. And the striker is convinced they can build on that. “We won the last time we played there, so we have to use that. We have our stuff on the walls, like Tottenham sayings and Tottenham pictures. We try to make it as much of a home as possible, so we have no excuses. Having 90,000 there is incredible. I think it’s a full house again, so hopefully we can use it to our advantage.”
Spurs will also take succour from their historical record in this competition against Belgian opposition. They’re two for two in knockout rounds, famously beating Anderlecht in the 1984 Uefa Cup final and seeing off Brugge in the second round as holders a few months later. Gent, by comparison, have lost their sole rubber against the English; a 1964 defeat to West Ham United, who were en route to lifting the Cup Winners Cup. With trophies looming large through the ages, Spurs could be forgiven for sensing the metallic tang of success in their nostrils. But if precedence is to have any bearing, they first they have to get the job done here tonight. It promises to be a cracker. It’s on!
Kick off is at 8.05pm at Wembley, 9.05pm 170 miles away in Flanders.
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