Tottenham snatched an aggregate 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt to reach the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday after Dominic Solanke converted from the spot to secure a 1-0 win in the second leg of their quarter-final.
The Premier League side will face Norway’s Bodo/Glimt in May for a spot in the final.
Solanke gave Tottenham the lead from the spot two minutes before halftime after the visitors were awarded a penalty for a foul by goalkeeper Kaua Santos on Spurs midfielder James Maddison.
Maddison headed the ball before clashing with the arriving Santos, and the referee pointed to the spot following a VAR review.
“Obviously we haven’t had the best of seasons in the Premier League this year but ultimately we want to win trophies and we got a good chance of doing that with this cup,” Solanke said.
Tottenham, who are 15th in the league, continue their quest to win a first European trophy in more than 40 years after their 1984 UEFA Cup success, something that would give them redemption for a disappointing domestic campaign.
They reached the last four of a European competition for the first time since their run to the 2019 Champions League final, where they lost 2-0 against fellow Premier League side Liverpool.
Goetze Goes Off Injured
Playing in heavy rain, Eintracht showed more intent in the opening stages but lost Mario Goetze early on after the veteran playmaker suffered what looked like a hamstring injury.
He was replaced by Fares Chaibi, who wasted no time and had a chance with a header soon afterwards but was denied by Tottenham keeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Tottenham were without their captain Son Heung-min, who did not travel due to a foot injury.
Mathys Tel, who signed for Spurs on loan from Bayern Munich in January, started in his place.
The 19-year-old had the visitors’ first attempt on target after 26 minutes, sending a lofted shot from outside the box that forced Santos into a save.
Eintracht, who took a sixth-minute lead in London through a fine Hugo Ekitike strike, were the better side but fell behind when Solanke sent Santos the wrong way, converting coolly with a low shot into the middle of the goal.
The German side, champions in 2022, were far from willing to accept their fate and pushed for an equaliser after the restart but were missing a finishing touch.
The hosts stormed Vicario’s goal with 15 minutes to go when the goalkeeper denied Chaibi from close range just before Rasmus Kristensen flashed a header just wide.
The Denmark defender had two more chances within the next minutes, shooting wide and being denied by Vicario.
Tottenham have won the competition twice, including its inaugural edition in 1972 when they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 on aggregate in a two-legged final.
