Woeful Tottenham have been dumped out of Europa League at the last-16 stage after a terrific comeback from Dinamo Zagreb.
Mislav Orsic completed a stunning hat-trick in extra-time to seal an incredible 3-0 second-leg win for the Croatians, who trailed 2-0 after a listless first-leg loss in north London.
Such a dismal loss leaves serious questions to be answered by Jose Mourinho, with Tottenham now left needing to overhaul a six-point gap to the top four in the Premier League in order to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
The best chance of a quiet first half in normal time fell to Lovro Majer, who drilled a low effort wide as Davinson Sanchez – who gave away the decisive penalty in Spurs’ north London derby defeat by Arsenal on Sunday – and Eric Dier were also forced to make key blocks.
Tottenham’s best sight of goal before the break was for Harry Kane, who tried to lift the ball home at the front post but was denied by a smothering save from Croatian international goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.
Dinamo were much the better and more purposeful side after the interval, with Bruno Petkovic’s shot blocked by Dier before the striker blazed over from a difficult angle.
Then the damage was emphatically inflicted by the excellent Mislav Orsic, who first cut inside Serge Aurier and rifled an unstoppable effort beyond Hugo Lloris and into the top corner before woeful Spurs failed to learn their lesson and substitute Iyayi Believe Atiemwen’s cutback was sidefooted home by the Croatian.
Kane’s back-post header was cleared off the line by Kevin Theophile-Catherine and substitute Gareth Bale failed to make the most of a last-gasp free-kick as extra-time beckoned.