A 43rd-minute penalty from Dominic Solanke sent Tottenham through to the Europa League semi-finals with a 2-1 aggregate win over Eintracht Frankfurt to keep their season alive and ease the pressure on Ange Postecoglou.
Spurs were back in the last-chance saloon and up against it at Deutsche Bank Park after a 1-1 draw in the first leg last Thursday, but produced one of their best displays under Postecoglou to ensure his tenure goes on.
Solanke’s spot-kick two minutes before half-time settled the tie and was won after vice-captains Cristian Romero and James Maddison combined.
The journey continues. pic.twitter.com/6ULGTec4ER
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 17, 2025
It was Solanke’s first goal in 12 matches and even though Tottenham missed opportunities after the break, they admirably held on to earn a first last-four spot in this competition in 41 years.
Postecoglou had admitted to having “no idea” if he would still be in a job after this tie on Wednesday, but can now focus on a two-legged semi-final in May with his team still on course to win the club its first trophy in 17 years.
With captain Son Heung-min ruled out, Bayern Munich loanee Tel got the nod back in Germany and while Tottenham were warned they would walk into the lion’s den at Deutsche Bank Park, they navigated the opening stages and the hosts lost Mario Gotze to injury after 17 minutes.
Hugo Ekitike had caused Spurs one moment of concern by this point only for Micky van de Ven to crucially slide in and yet another French forward started to make an impact.
Tel scuffed wide from a Brennan Johnson cutback in the 20th-minute before six minutes later he let fly from 25-yards and forced Kaua Santos into a flying save.
Guglielmo Vicario had held a simple header from Frankfurt substitute Fares Chaibi moments before, but had largely been untroubled when Tottenham won a penalty at the end of the first half.
Romero played his part with a brilliant ball over the top for Maddison, who tried to head over Kaua and got taken out by the Frankfurt goalkeeper.
As both players got treatment, referee Massa was sent to the VAR monitor and pointed to the spot much to the fury of the stunned home supporters.
Tel initially had the ball, but gave it to Solanke at the last moment and the £65million forward ended his 12-game drought with a clever chipped penalty before the Spurs players celebrated in front of Frankfurt’s noisy standing section.
Maddison had to be replaced soon after by Dejan Kulusevski, but Tottenham survived six minutes of stoppage time before they came under siege at the start of the second period.
Substitute Chaibi curled a free-kick wide from 35 yards before an Ekitike shot on the turn was blocked by Lucas Bergvall.
Frankfurt boss Dino Toppmoller had seen enough though and sent on Can Uzun in the 58th minute before Spurs went close again.
Johnson combined with Kulusevski, who had a shot deflected wide before Romero headed inches wide from Pedro Porro’s resulting corner.
Tottenham continued to perfectly combine defence with attack in a way which had not been seen enough this season with a Tel effort curled over followed by a Rodrigo Bentancur header off target.
Frankfurt had penalty appeals waved away soon after as Romero got the ball during a coming together with Ekitike before Vicario was called into action.
Rasmus Kristensen got in behind the Spurs defence and picked out Chaibi, but Vicario made a superb point-blank save and the follow-up cross was headed wide by Kristensen.
As the seconds ticked away Frankfurt upped the ante and Kristensen sent another effort off target with eight minutes left before Postecoglou introduced Kevin Danso as the visitors went to three at the back.
It was backs-to-the-wall now for Tottenham, but they stood firm to survive six minutes of stoppage time and delight their 2,800 travelling fans with big full-time celebrations as the club secured only its second European semi-final since they won the UEFA Cup in 1984.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke described his team’s 1-0 victory at Gary Rowett’s Oxford as “the best type of win”.Manor Solomon’s 33rd-minute goal from a superb attacking move was enough to take Leeds back to the top of the Championship with three games to go.Farke said: “It was a massive win for us at this stage of the season against a team fighting against relegation...
Manor Solomon’s first-half goal fired Leeds back to the top of the Sky Bet Championship with a 1-0 win at Oxford.The Israel international arrived at the far post in the 33rd minute to smash Jayden Bogle’s right-wing cross high into the net from five yards at the end of a fast attacking move.It meant Daniel Farke’s men returned to the summit after Burnley’s 2-1 comeback vict...
Stephen Kelly struck two first-half goals as second-placed Livingston swept aside fellow Scottish Championship high-fliers Ayr 5-0.Kelly grabbed an early opener when he slotted home from the edge of the penalty area after six minutes and Robbie Muirhead made it two from the penalty spot after a foul on Cristian Montano.Ayr capitulated again moments before the interval, Kelly latching on to a long ...
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder said it had been an emotionally draining week after his side beat Cardiff 2-0 at Bramall Lane to end a run of three straight defeats.Goals from Gustavo Hamer and Ben Brereton Diaz kept the Blades in the hunt for automatic promotion from the Sky Bet Championship, while the Bluebirds remain in deep relegation trouble.Wilder said: “It was a nervy start for us ...
Alan Sheehan’s audition for the vacant managerial job at Swansea received further approval as he steered his side to a fourth successive victory with a 1-0 win over Hull.A controversial second-half penalty from Slovenianstriker Zan Vipotnik sealed the deal for the home side as they also notched a fourth successive clean sheet – the first time since 2008 they have won four in a row with...
Burnley boss Scott Parker praised his side’s defiance and cool heads as they moved to within one victory of an immediate return to the Premier League with a raucous 2-1 win over nine-man Watford at Vicarage Road.Within an extraordinary 11 minutes midway through the second half, Josh Brownhill scored what proved to be the winning goal before Watford pair Moussa Sissoko and Edo Kayembe were bo...
Sheffield United kept up the pressure on Burnley and Leeds as they beat Cardiff 2-0 at Bramall Lane on Good Friday.Goals from Gustavo Hamer and Ben Brereton Diaz kept the Blades in the hunt for automatic promotion from the Sky Bet Championship, while the Bluebirds remain in deep relegation trouble.The visitors had their first sight of goal when captain Callum O’Dowda’s cross was met by...
Barnet’s wobble in pursuit of the National League title continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Eastleigh.After nine victories in a row up to the end of March, Dean Brennan’s side are now winless in their last three games and had to come from behind to take a point from the visitors.Eastleigh took a 36th-minute lead through Paul McCallum after a poor back pass left the Bee...
Walsall boss Mat Sadler insists his stuttering Saddlers will not let heads drop despite slipping out of League Two’s top three for the first time in five months after a 2-2 draw with Harrogate.Liam Gordon’s 88th-minute equaliser rescued Walsall a point but they have gone 11 games without a win to drop from first to fourth.Just three points separate the top four, though, and Sadler rema...
Valerien Ismael described Blackburn’s 4-1 hammering of Millwall as the best his side has played since his arrival as head coach.Rovers maintained their slim play-off hopes by putting their in-form visitors to the sword.Dominic Hyam’s 42nd-minute header put Rovers ahead – the first of three goals in five minutes – as Mihailo Ivanovic equalised before Sondre Tronstad register...
- 1 Chelsea to scout 24-year-old star today
- 2 Mark Robins wants win at Cardiff to galvanise Stoke for Championship run-in
- 3 PL side eyeing summer move for Rashford
- 4 Pop icon with £580M net worth makes appearance at Stamford Bridge
- 5 David Gray hails ‘incredible achievement’ as Hibernian match club record run
- 6 Enzo Maresca: It’s up to Chelsea fans to decide if they want to back team
- 7 Late Ianis Hagi equaliser for Rangers denies Celtic early title party
- 8 Vitor Pereira reveals lofty ambitions for Wolves after victory over Tottenham
- 9 Arteta makes exciting Arsenal transfer claim
- 10 Gareth Ainsworth targeting success at Gillingham after win over MK Dons