Fiorentina 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur (agg 3-1)
- Published
Tottenham fail to progress to Europa League last 16
Spurs' second defeat in last 11 Europa League matches
Pochettino says his side "must recover fast"
Fiorentina extend unbeaten run to 11 matches
Tottenham exited the Europa League after an error-strewn 2-0 defeat by Fiorentina gave the Italian side a 3-1 aggregate win.
Mario Gomez raced clear after a second-half mistake by Federico Fazio and slid the ball under Hugo Lloris.
Chelsea loanee Mohamed Salah sealed the win after a blunder by Jan Vertonghen.
Spurs needed to score in Florence, but were unable to make a breakthrough, with striker Roberto Soldado wasting a golden first-half opportunity.
The Spanish striker was played clean through by Erik Lamela's swept pass after Spurs broke quickly from a corner, but he scuffed his attempt to square the ball to Nacer Chadli and keeper Neto gathered.
The result is a blow for Spurs before their biggest game of the season so far - the League Cup final against Chelsea on Sunday.
A cosmopolitan affair |
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Neither side began with a player from their home country on the pitch - with Fiorentina's Micah Richards the lone Englishman to start the match. Fifteen different nationalities were represented. |
With the Wembley showpiece just three days away, manager Mauricio Pochettino opted to rest striker Harry Kane and midfielder Ryan Mason, but selected an otherwise strong line-up as Spurs attempted to claim only their second win in Italy.
His team began well, as they had in the 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane a week ago, and had an early penalty shout turned down when former Manchester City defender Stefan Savic lunged in on Christian Eriksen.
Spurs had the better of the first half and would have led had it not been for Soldado's mistake.
But Fiorentina, unbeaten in their previous 10 matches, were much improved after the break and took the lead after nine minutes of the second half.
Fazio lost possession on the halfway line and Milan Badelj fed Gomez, who held off Fazio and finished coolly.
Spurs were carved open again soon after but Salah hit his shot straight at Lloris.
Salah made no mistake with his next opportunity though, pouncing after Vertonghen inexplicably dithered in the area and poking the ball past Lloris.
Pochettino brought on Kane - who had scored six goals in his five previous games - and the in-form striker almost made an immediate impact, but he was denied a goal after Ben Davies, who squared the ball to him, was correctly flagged offside.
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