Tottenham 3-0 Fiorentina: The Europa League Campaign Ends in London

Fiorentina were dumped out of the Europa League in London this evening as Tottenham Hotspur went through to the next round 4-1 on aggregate.

The first half commenced in tentative fashion, but as the opening minutes passed, it became clear that Tottenham were starting to take hold of the game. Their high tempo play disturbed Fiorentina's possession based game and had forced two saves from Ciprian Tatarusanu before eventually breaking the deadlock in the 24th minute. Dele Alli played Ryan Mason clean through on goal and the Spurs midfielder made no mistake with a side footed shot past Tatarusanu. Borja Valero went close with a header into the side netting at the end of the second half but in truth, the home side were well in control.

Tottenham came out of the blocks in the second half in much the same way and had the ball in the net in the first minute of the second half, but Nacer Chadli was ruled offside. This, however was to be only a stay of execution, as the tie was all but over just after the hour mark. After Chadli's effort was palmed away by Tatarusanu, the ball broke to Erik Lamela who turned and fired in his shot to double his team's advantage. The night was well and truly over in horrible fashion when Captain Gonzalo Rodriguez put the ball into his own net whilst trying to cut out a Kieran Trippier cross.

If Fiorentina can qualify for the Champions League through achieving third place in Serie A, this painful Europa League exit will be long forgotten. Despite this, the problems encountered by Sousa's men against strong sides remain. With two tough games in a week to come against Napoli and a resurgent AS Roma, the team face a battle to keep their season on track.