Adebayor Scores Twice As Tottenham See Off Dnipro

Emmanuel Adebayor scored a brace as Tottenham completed a remarkable Europa League comeback to beat FC Dnipro 3-2 on aggregate and progress to the last 16.

Christian Eriksen and Emmanuel Adebayor starred as Tim Sherwood’s side overcame a shaky start to produce a thrilling rally, ending former manager Juande Ramos’s hopes in the process.

After losing their first leg 1-0 in Ukraine, Spurs fell even further behind when Roman Zozulya added a vital away goal to Dnipro’s tally, leaving Sherwood’s men in need of three second-half goals.

The Ukrainian side set the hosts a mountain to climb shortly after the restart when Zozulya took advantage of a napping Spurs defence to head home Ruslan Rotan’s free kick.

Spurs duly responded to the challenge through Denmark international, Eriksen, who curled home a superb free kick, which goalkeeper Denis Boyko could only force further into his bottom left-hand corner.

Drama ensued at White Hart Lane as Zozulya was shown a straight red card for an off-ball incident with Jan Vertonghen before the Ukrainian had to be wrestled away by Adebayor.

Spurs wasted little time after being handed an advantage, with Eriksen whipping a low cross into the six-yard box, where Adebayor slid in to draw the Premier League side level on aggregate.

Adebayor doubled his tally four minutes later, utilising his chest to control a crossed ball before flicking beyond the keeper to send Spurs into the lead for the first time in the tie.

Spurs remained resilient however as they saw out five minutes of added time, much to the delight of an overjoyed Sherwood, who raced onto the pitch to celebrate with his side on the full-time whistle.

Despite being reduced to 10 men, Ramos’ Dnipro refused to lay down as Konoplyanka drifted into space before unleashing a stinging shot, which forced a diving save from Lloris.

A rash injury-time challenge from Dawson, just outside the Spurs box, gifted Konoplyanka a free-kick in a dangerous position and the most sought-after man in Ukraine stretched Lloris once more with a venomous strike.