Tottenham Hotspur have done the unthinkable. Just when you thought the Champions League couldn’t get any more outrageous.
Less than 24 hours after Liverpool staged one of the greatest-ever fightbacks at Anfield, Lucas Moura scored a second-half hat-trick to secure a 3-2 win in Amsterdam and send Tottenham through on away goals to the final in Madrid on June 1.
They progress to the final on away goals via a 3-3 aggregate scoreline over Ajax in extraordinary scenes.
With virtually the last kick of the game, Spurs completed one an impossible three-goal comeback to end Ajax’s fairytale on their own turf, via a magnificent Lucas Moura hat-trick.
Moura scores second-half hat-trick as Tottenham reach Champions League final with a dramatic victory in Amsterdam
Tottenham will face Liverpool in an all-English Champions League final after producing a stunning second-half comeback against Ajax to rival the Reds' miracle win over Barcelona.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Spurs looked out of it at half-time after a towering header from Matthijs de Ligt and a curling finish from Hakim Ziyech.
But Lucas stuck twice inside four minutes to level the scores early in the second half, first slotting home a brisk counter-attack before wriggling past two defenders in the box to smash in the equaliser.
And the Brazilian completed his remarkable hat-trick when he scored the dramatic winner deep into stoppage time to seal another historic night in this competition, and leave Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino in tears.
Spurs will now face Liverpool in the final in Madrid on June 1.
Tottenham Hotspur showed why manager Mauricio Pochettino is a wanted man by thrashing Everton 6-2 at Goodison Park on Sunday to close to within six points of Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Spurs have had to cope with the unwanted attention of Pochettino being linked with the Manchester United job following Jose Mourinho’s sacking this week.
But they showed no signs of being distracted as they roared back from a goal down thanks to doubles from Son Heung-min and Harry Kane with Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen also on target.
Fatigue may yet still derail Tottenham’s bid to win a first trophy under Pochettino with Spurs still involved in four competitions.
But with Liverpool facing Arsenal and Manchester City in a top of the table clash in their next three games over the festive period, Tottenham have the opportunity to haul themselves into a three-way title race if they maintain the standards set at Goodison.
“I think everyone is talking about Liverpool and Man City, but we are just doing well as we normally do,” said Kane.
“We’ve had a great week, we’ve got games coming up thick and fast but games we can win.”
Kane had chipped into the side-netting and Jordan Pickford produced a fine save to deny England team-mate Kieran Trippier in the early stages.
But it was Everton who struck first in a wildly open contest when Theo Walcott stabbed home at the near post from Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s cross.
Marco Silva’s men could even have been 2-0 up had Calvert-Lewin not been penalized for a push on Davinson Sanchez when heading home moments later.
But Spurs looked as if they could score with almost every attack and were soon on level terms with the aid of a Pickford error.
The England number one rushed from his goal but only succeeded in getting in the way of his own defender Kurt Zouma and Son took advantage with a wonderful finish from a narrow-angle.
“We dominated the game from the start, we created so many chances, so we were unlucky to be 1-0 down,” said Son.
“But we bounced back, showed our character and our mentality. We are happy to get three points here.”
Once back on level terms, Spurs were relentless as Pickford denied Son a second but Alli charged into the box to sweep home the rebound to turn the game around.
Kane is now just one goal behind Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang in the race for the Premier League golden boot and showed his predatory instincts to side-foot into an empty net after Trippier’s fine free-kick came back off the post three minutes before half-time.
Both teams face the least rest time of any Premier League side over the festive period with another three games to come between now and New Year’s Day.
However, there was no let up in the pace of the game after the break as Eriksen produced a technically perfect controlled volley from the edge of the box to make it 4-1.
Three minutes later Everton’s deficit was back to two as Gylfi Sigurdsson dribbled across the whole Tottenham defense before firing back across Hugo Lloris.
Yet, any hope of a fightback was extinguished just after the hour mark when Son’s fine control cushioned Erik Lamela’s pass before he finished through the legs of Pickford.
It was announced this week that the South Korean will go to the Asian Cup in January despite already representing his country at the World Cup and Asian Games this year.
And Son showed why he will be missed by his club in January once more with an inch-perfect cross for Kane to slide in for his second of the afternoon 16 minutes from time.
Tottenham Hotspur will be willing to sell Harry Kane to Real Madrid, as long as the deal is done quickly and brings in €200m.
Spanish outlet, Mundo Deportivo, reports that Spurs president Daniel Levy has told Kane’s representatives that they are prepared to let him leave.
Last month, the England striker told the club to start winning trophies or he is off. Kane’s current deal expires in 2022, but he has been seriously linked with Real Madrid.
Asked what Tottenham need to do to keep him, Kane replied:
“I’ve always said: keep progressing, keep getting better, start winning trophies.
“That’s the aim. As long as the club keep doing that then, yeah I’m happy here.”
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was delighted by the commitment of his side after they bounced back from a shock defeat by Huddersfield Town with a 1-0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
Substitute Antony Martial’s goal nine minutes from time was enough for United to go three points clear of Spurs in second place in the Premier League table.
Mourinho slammed United for a “really poor” attitude after the 2-1 defeat by Huddersfield but the Portuguese boss was far happier with what he saw against Spurs.
“We all feel we have to win every match so that’s why I felt disappointed at Huddersfield,” he told Sky Sports.
“It looked like we didn’t know that every point is a precious point. Today, every ball looked like the last ball of their careers.”
As for Martial, whose United future has been a source of speculation, Mourinho said: “Sometimes he starts the match and his contribution is good but he doesn’t score.
“I don’t understand some reactions when people question ‘are they Red Devils’? The two strikers were up against amazing central defenders, some of the best in Europe.”
There was nothing fancy about Martial’s winner, the forward finishing after a kick downfield by United goalkeeper David De Gea was headed on by Romelu Lukaku.
“Martial scores with a bad shot, but the bad shots can be the most beautiful,” said Mourinho. “To play well against a very, very good team feels even better.”
Former Chelsea manager Mourinho accepted the result could easily have gone the other way, saying: “That was difficult, it could have been a draw. Both teams were trying to win but both knew the opponent was strong.
“We knew if we had one defensive mistake we could lose and that’s what happened to them.
“We tried and we deserved the victory.”
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino agreed with much of Mourinho’s assessment, saying: “It was an even game.
“It was a shame to lose. I think we deserved more. It was unlucky that in the last 10 minutes we conceded our goal. It was our mistake.”
Tottenham were without injured striker Harry Kane but Pochettino insisted his side’s title challenge was about more than the in-form England forward.
“If Dele Alli had scored now the question would be different,” Pochettino said. “It is always about the result. You are always going to miss your main striker but it is not fair to talk about Harry Kane.”
Source
AFP
Manchester United bounced back from last weekend’s shock defeat to Huddersfield with a hard-fought 1-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur in the lunchtime kick-off in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The hero for United was Anthony Martial who came off the bench to score the only goal of a keenly contested affair.
The defeat was Spurs’ first in the league since they lost 2-1 to Chelsea at home back in August.
With the win, United have gone temporarily just two points off leaders Manchester City who are on 25 points and will be guests to West Brom, while Spurs remain third on 20 points.
Marcus Rashford had the first real chance for United on 12 minutes from a long range free-kick which Hugo Lloris saved.
With four minutes left in the first half Eric Dier attempted an acrobatic strike from close range but David De Gea was alert to the danger.
Eleven minutes after the restart Ander Herrera hit a good shot which Lloris parried before the Spurs defence cleared their lines.
In the 65th minute, Antonio Valencia hit a rocket of a shot from the edge of the box only to see it go just over the bar.
Spurs went close to taking the lead on 77 minutes following a cross from Christian Eriksen whose floated ball saw Dele Alli failing to capitalise from close range.
Two minutes later Romelu Lukaku should have given United the lead but his header came off the bar.
United eventually broke the deadlock through Martial who found the corner of the post off Lukaku’s flick-on.
Video Huddersfield Town vs Tottenham Hotspur 0-4
Huddersfield Town and Tottenham Hotspur game Highlight
Tottenham are in sensational form at the moment, so Pochettino makes just two changes to the side which beat West Ham last weekend. Kieran Trippier replaces the suspended Serge Aurier at right-back, while Harry Winks comes in to midfield in place of Moussa Sissoko.
TOTTENHAM SUBS: Vorm, Son, Nkoudou, Sissoko, Llorente, Foyth, Walker-Peters.
TOTTENHAM (3-4-2-1): Lloris (GK); Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Sanchez; Trippier, Dier, Winks, Davies; Eriksen, Alli; Kane.
HUDDERSFIELD SUBS: Green, Malone, Whitehead, Billing, Sabiri, Cranie, Hadergjonaj.
HUDDERSFIELD (4-2-3-1): Lossl (GK), Smith, Jorgensen, Schindler, Lowe; Mooy, Hogg; Kachunga, Ince, Van La Parra; Depoitre.
Manchester United’s triumph over Ajax in the finals of the Europa League on Wednesday night guaranteed them a place in the 2017/18 Champions League competition.
United ran out 2-0 winners over the Netherland club, with Paul Pogba and Henrik Mkhitaryan hitting the target for the English side.
Jose Mourinho’s men had finished in sixth position in the English league, and needed victory in Wednesday’s final to be guaranteed of a position in Europe’s most prestigious club competition.
The team had missed out on the competition in the just concluded season after a 5th place finish at the end of the 2015/16 football season.
They now join Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool as clubs that will represent England in the competition next season.
Rival, Arsenal, misses out on the competition after finishing outside the top four for the first time in 20 years.
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