Europa League: Stunning comeback takes Tottenham through to last 16

After losing 1-0 in the first leg of the round of 32 tie in Ukraine last week, Tottenham Hotspur F.C. looked to be heading out of the tournament when Roman Zozulya headed in a delivery from visiting captain Ruslan Rotan two minutes into the second half.

Tottenham Hotspur are through to the last 16 of the Europa League after a dramatic recovery saw them get the better of ten-man Dnipro at White Hart Lane on Thursday.



After losing 1-0 in the first leg of the round of 32 tie in Ukraine last week, Spurs looked to be heading out of the tournament when Roman Zozulya headed in a delivery from visiting captain Ruslan Rotan two minutes into the second half.

That left the Premier League club needing to score three unanswered goals to go through, but a Christian Eriksen free-kick reduced the deficit on 55 minutes before Zozulya was shown a straight red card by the French referee following a headbutt on Jan Vertonghen.

Spurs made the most of their man advantage as Emmanuel Adebayor struck twice in the space of four minutes to seal a 3-1 win on the night and go through 3-2 on aggregate.

The Togolese forward later told ITV that he was never worried about his team's situation, saying: "Not at all. I know we have quality up front.

"We just kept our focus very well and scored that good free-kick that put us on our way. I managed to get two goals for the team and we're very happy."

Swansea knocked out

Tim Sherwood's side will now face last season's beaten finalists Benfica, who saw off PAOK of Greece, and they will do so as the only Premier League side left in the tournament after Swansea City went down 3-1 to Napoli in Italy.

Following a goalless first leg, the Serie A side took the lead 17 minutes in at the San Paolo stadium when Lorenzo Insigne cutely lifted the ball over Michel Vorm in the away goal.

Jonathan De Guzman hit back for Swansea and for a long time it looked as if they would progress on away goals.

But Gonzalo Higuain took advantage of a lucky ricochet in the box to put the hosts back in front 12 minutes from time, and Gokhan Inler made sure of Napoli's progress in stoppage time.

Napoli will now take on 2011 Europa League winners Porto, after the Portuguese club won a remarkable tie against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Following a 2-2 draw in last week's first leg, Eintracht looked to be going through thanks to goals from Stefan Aigner and Alexander Meier either side of the interval.

A double from Porto's France international defender Eliaquim Mangala silenced the crowd of close to 50,000 in the Commerzbank Arena, only for Meier to put the hosts back in front.

But Nabil Ghilas netted four minutes from time to make it 3-3 on the night and take Porto through on away goals, the result easing the pressure on coach Paulo Fonseca.

Juventus to face Fiorentina

Elsewhere, there will be a mouth-watering all-Italian tie between Juventus and Fiorentina after they eased past Trabzonspor and Esbjerg respectively.

And there will also be a Spanish derby clash between city rivals Sevilla and Real Betis in the round of 16.

Sevilla, who are eighth in La Liga, beat Maribor of Slovenia 2-1 on the night to go through 4-3 on aggregate, while Betis, the Spanish top flight's bottom club, were impressive 2-0 winners away to Rubin Kazan in Russia, advancing 3-1 overall.

The 2009 UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk were eliminated by Viktoria Pilsen of the Czech Republic, who go through to play French side Lyon.

Ajax fell by the wayside too, going down 6-1 on aggregate to Salzburg, who will next face Basel of Switzerland, while Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad came from behind to knock out Lazio, setting up a tie against Valencia.

Wenger discusses break criticism, Campbell

Arsene Wenger has hit out at being forced to justify handing his Arsenal stars two days' rest this week.

The Arsenal manager branded criticism of his decision "unbelievable" ahead of his side's Premier League trip to Stoke City on Saturday. Wenger revealed Mesut Ozil will be fit to return after hip trouble for the weekend's Potters clash, with Thomas Vermaelen also expected to be available.

Wenger said German playmaker Ozil is now ready to shrug off his costly penalty miss in Arsenal's 2-0 UEFA Champions League loss to Bayern Munich. "It's not necessarily fatigue, I don't see why that's suddenly a problem," said Wenger when questioned on the impromptu rest period he handed his squad this week.

"We have played without a break since December, we don't have to justify that, it's unbelievable. We are in a society where everyone wants to control everything; I don't understand this at all.

"We are entitled to do unusual things. We came out of a heavy schedule. We had two days off, that's all. Sometimes it's not only physical, it's mental, you're under pressure all the time, there's nothing unusual there."

He was good (against Manchester United), convincing in going forward, he looks like he has adapted better to the physical side of the European game.

Wenger on loan forward Joel Campbell

Admitting he is still weighing up whether to employ Vermaelen at left back to cover other absentees, Wenger backed Ozil to shrug off recent struggles with the Premier League's relentless intensity. "He (Ozil) had a difficult game because he missed that penalty, and it was on his mind," said Wenger.

"Sometimes when you're under this kind of pressure it's good to refresh. My opportunity is just to put the best team out who can win the game, it's not about individuals, it's about the team. If needed Thomas can play there (at left back), it's not his preferred position. He's been out for a long time but I still have 48 hours to make that decision."

Wenger also said that forward Joel Campbell, on loan at Olympiacos, now has the physicality and temperament to secure himself a long-term future at Arsenal. The 21-year-old claimed a fine individual goal in the Greek side's 2-0 Champions League victory over Manchester United in Athens in midweek.

Wenger said a series of loan stints have stood the Costa Rica forward in good stead. "He was good (against Manchester United), convincing in going forward, he looks like he has adapted better to the physical side of the European game," said Wenger.

"We knew always that he had the talent to create something special. He did rely a bit too much on that, but he has now been out at three different clubs, at Lorient, Sevilla, and Betis. Now he is at Olympiacos and he has learned the toughness of the European leagues.

"I will decide (his future) later, but why not? We bought him to bring him here."

Seedorf to coach AC Milan

Dutch veteran Clarence Seedorf confirmed on Tuesday he is taking over as coach of AC Milan, replacing Massimiliano Allegri.

The seven-times European champions sacked Allegri after a shock weekend loss to Sassuolo and have turned to Seedorf, who won a host of honours in Milan as a player.

Seedorf, 37 and the first man to win the Champions League with three different clubs after stellar spells with Ajax, Real Madrid and Milan, has spent the past 18 months with Rio-based Botafogo.

But he said now was the time to take up a new challenge -- and hang up his boots.

Pele talks about Ronaldo

Pele looks to be impressed by Ronaldo as he says about him before and after the Zurich Ceremony.

FIFA Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo must continue to maintain his exceptional high standards in order to be classed among the sport's legends, according to Brazil great Pele who compared the Portuguese to Eusebio.

Portugal and Real Madrid forward Ronaldo beat Argentine's Lionel Messi and France's Franck Ribery to claim the prestigious award for the second time on Monday.

"To me the last true great was (France playmaker Zinedine) Zidane. He stayed at the same very high level for at least 10 years," Pele, who was awarded a honorary Ballon d'Or, told France Football magazine.

Ronaldo is on the right path, though, and reminded the three-times World Cup winner of former Portugal striker Eusebio, the top scorer at the 1966 World Cup, who died earlier this month at the age of 71.

"Today Messi and Ronaldo are above the rest. Ronaldo reminds me a bit of Eusebio, he is well bred.

"He has the elegance and the creativity of the great players," Pele said.

Winning the World Cup used to have greater significance in the voting for the Ballon d'Or but the success of Ronaldo and Messi, who won the award from 2009-12, proved that was no longer true, according to the Brazilian.

"It is perhaps less important than it used to be when I was playing," Pele of the showpiece tournament that the duo will look to win for the first time later this year.

"I'm not saying it is not essential to win the World Cup but the Champions League now has the same considerable impact celebrity-wise."

Ronaldo wins it!!!

Ronaldo scored a staggering 69 goals in 59 matches for club and country in 2013 and was hot favourite to lift the prestigious award he last held in 2008.

BPL Facts

·         Arsenal are unbeaten in 14 Barclays Premier League trips to Villa Park, winning seven and drawing seven.

·         The Gunners' 14 game unbeaten run at Villa is their longest away run without defeat against a single side in Barclays Premier League history.

·         Arsenal conceded two penalties in the reverse fixture against Aston Villa this season for the first time in the League since 5 Feb 2011 v Newcastle United.

First a Rock, Now a Wreck! What ha happened to Manchester United?

Manchester United lost to Sunderland 2-1 in the first leg of the Capital One Cup last night as three generations of United legends watched shaking their heads in disbelief.




For those of us old enough to remember, or in my case, to be there, it is all Déjà vu. When Sir Matt Busby retired after Manchester United has won the European Cup in 1968, it was thought that he would fade away into retirement with his wife and family. But no, he decided he would hang around the ground, the training centre and the changing rooms. This was found to be a distraction for the players and the new manager and it ultimately led to him making a brief comeback, but it merely delayed the inevitable. United were relegated in 1975 and I have to say that the foundations for that were laid during the end of Sir Matt's reign.