Europa League: Basel vs Tottenham Match Report

Tottenham bowed out of the Europa League on penalties 4-1 in an absorbing contest against Basel.

Played in heavy rain the match finished 2-2 with a brace from Clint Dempsey either side of goals from Mohamed Salah and Aleksandar Dragovic followed by a goalless extra-time.

It was a nervy opening 20 minutes with Basel playing deep and Tottenham rarely threatening to carve them open. However, on the 23^rd minute a threaded through ball from Jan Vertonghen was not dealt with by Dragovic allowing Dempsey to skip past the Basel keeper and roll the ball into the empty net.

However, Spurs were not in front for long as an intercepted Dembele pass released Salah who toe-poked the ball past Brad Freidel at the near post.

Tottenham lost their composure following the equaliser, misplacing passes and struggling to hold onto possession, with Dembele having a particularly poor game. Yet, it was Dembele who tested Sommer next, with a left-foot shot well saved by the Basel keeper.

Shortly after the break Basel struck to take a well-earned lead with the defender Dragovic making up for his earlier error. Friedel made a poor save from a Fabian Schar header , parrying the ball into the path of Dragovic who tapped in from 3 yards.

Tottenham struggled to respond with Basel having a number more chances including a Dragovic header which flew agonisingly wide, before Dawson had a header well saved by Sommer.

Photograph: Walter Bieri/EPA

It was just after the 80 minute mark when Dempsey struck again, controlling a Huddlestone pass on his chest before poking the ball towards Sonner who, despite getting a hand to it, had to watch as the ball trickled over the line.

A major turning point came in the 89^th minute with the indisputable red card for Jan Vertonghen who, as the last man, brought down Streller.

Tottenham spent most of extra-time boxed into their own half, with Huddlestone playing as a make-shift centre-back, as El-Nenny’s long-range shot rattled the outside of the post and both Dawson and Carroll making fantastic last ditch interceptions.

Penalties were needed to decide this tie and the mood was set when Huddlestone’s penalty was well saved by Sommer after Schar had buried his past Friedel. Streller, Sigurdsson and Fabien Frei all converted their penalties before Adebayor blazer his over the bar.

This left Marco Diaz needing to score to win and he easily buried his penalty in the roof of the net, sending Basel through to meet either Chelsea, Benfica or Feherbache in the semi-final.

Tottenham, on the other hand, will turn their attentions back to the Premier League, where they are in the midst of the battle for 4^th with Chelsea and Arsenal.