Dele Alli sent off as Gent dump Tottenham out at the Europa League last-32 stage
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Updated 23/02/2017 at 22:57 GMT
Europa League, Last 32, second leg, Wembley - Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Eriksen 10, Wanyama 61) Gent 2 (Kane 20' (O.G.), Perbet, 82)
Portuguese referee Jorge Sousa (R) shows a straight red card to send off Tottenham Hotspur's English midfielder Dele Alli (L) during the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 second-leg football match between Tottenham Hotspur and KAA Gent at Wembley Stadium in
Image credit: AFP
Dele Alli was shown the first red card of his senior career as Tottenham Hotspur crashed out of Europe 3-2 on aggregate, drawing 2-2 with AA Gent at Wembley.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg Spurs got off to the best possible start when Christian Eriksen slotted home following some poor defending from Gent but they got back into it as Harry Kane flicked a corner into his own net.
The game's turning point arguably came just before the break when Alli was sent-off for a reckless challenge on Brecht Dejaegere.
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Tottenham's Dele Alli fouls Gent's Brecht Dejaegere resulting in a red
Image credit: Reuters
Spurs continued to press and Kyle Walker in particular found an incredible amount of space down the right but Gent were usually up to the task.
Victor Wanyama gave Spurs home with a fine effort from the edge of the area but a defensive mishap at the end saw Jeremy Perbet equalise and secure Gent's passage to the next round.
TALKING POINT
Do Spurs need to start being worried about Wembley?
It's nine games in a row at Wembley without a clean-sheet for Spurs and they've won just one of their four games there this season. Next year it's not just Europe but the entire campaign that Spurs will play at Wembley and it is clearly taking its toll. White Hart Lane's compactness gives it an incredible, intimidating atmosphere, Wembley is anything but, and Mauricio Pochettino needs to find an answer to this problem in the next few months as they play out their final few matches at the current White Hart Lane.
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Britain Football Soccer - Tottenham Hotspur v K.A.A Gent - UEFA Europa League Round of 32 Second Leg - Wembley Stadium, London, England - 23/2/17 General view outside the stadium before the match Reuters /
Image credit: Reuters
MAN OF THE MATCH
Samuel Gigot (Gent): Walker and Eriksen were both excellent but Gigot dealt with Kane superbly. There was a wonderful period of five to ten minutes when Walker sent in a succession of deliveries into the box and Gigot didn't give Kane an inch in the box. The entire defence was impressive but Gigot stood out as the one who led from the front when Gent were pinned back.
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Gent's Samuel Gigot celebrates after the game with Brecht Dejaegere
Image credit: Reuters
PLAYER RATINGS
Spurs - Lloris 5; Dier 4, Alderweireld 6, Vertonghen 5; Walker 8, Wanyama 7, Dembele 7, Davies 5; Eriksen 8, Alli 3, Kane 4. Subs: Son 6, Winks 5, Janssen 5
Gent - Kalinic 7; Gershon 7, Mitrovic 6, Gigot 8; Saief 6, Esiti 6, Foket 6, Milicevic 6; Dejaegere 7, K.Coulibaly 6; Simon 5. Subs: Matton 5, Verstraete 6, Perbet 6
KEY MOMENTS
10' - GOAL! SPURS 1-0 GENT - (ERIKSEN): Well there's one and it is embarrassingly easy. Gershon misses a header and Eriksen is through on goal. Calmly slots it home. Easy as you like.
21' - GOAL! SPURS 1-1 GENT - (KANE OG): And the corner brings the equaliser! It goes deep to the back post and it is flicked into his own net by Harry Kane. That was unfortunate, Gent fans are going mad.
39' - RED CARD! DELE ALLI: Dele Alli has been sent off and it gets worse and worse the more you see it. He is nowhere near the ball and nearly breaks Dejaegere's shin after he went down in the box. That's a terrible, terrible challenge.
61' - GOAL! SPURS 2-1 GENT - (WANYAMA): That's one! Spurs are now one goal from going through to the next round thanks to a fantastic curled finish from Victor Wanyama. Walker played the ball to Eriksen on the right and the Dane's gentle touch set Wanyama up to run onto the shot. Game on.
82' - GOAL! SPURS 2-2 GENT - (PERBET) Oh Spurs. That's just so Spursy. The defence gets in all sorts of confusion about whether they're pushing up or dropping off and Coulibaly finds himself through on goal. His cross is chested down by Dier into the path of Perbet who pokes home. That's just shambolic.
KEY STATS
- KAA Gent became the first Belgian side to eliminate English opposition in major European competition (excluding qualifiers) since Standard Liege knocked out Everton in the 2008-09 UEFA Cup.
- Spurs have now been eliminated from eight of their last nine European knockout ties in which they’ve lost the first leg.
- Mauricio Pochettino’s side have conceded more goals in four European home games at Wembley this season (6) than they have in 12 Premier League games at White Hart Lane (5).
- Dele Alli picked up the first red card of his competitive career. Indeed, it was Tottenham’s first red card in any competition in 93 games, since Vlad Chiriches was sent off against Stoke in May 2015.
- The Belgian side earned a 2-2 draw to see them through, despite managing just one shot on target in the match.
- Since the start of 2013-14, Harry Kane has scored four own goals for Tottenham – twice as many as any other player at the club.
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