Reuters
Dinamo Zagreb produced one of the great European fightbacks to beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 and reach the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday along with Manchester United, Arsenal and Ajax Amsterdam.
United edged their heavyweight tie with AC Milan as Paul Pogba came off the bench to score the goal that secured a 1-0 win in the San Siro for a 2-1 aggregate triumph.
Arsenal overcame Olympiakos 3-2 on aggregate despite losing the second leg 1-0 while Ajax beat Young Boys 2-0 for a 5-0 aggregate victory to ease into Friday’s last-eight draw.
The night belonged to Zagreb, however, and in particular MislavOrsic who scored a sublime hat-trick to stun Jose Mourinho'sTottenham.
Orsic gave Dinamo a glimmer of hope in the 62nd minute when he beat Hugo Lloris with a superb curling effort, and he finished off a flowing move in the 83rd minute to send the tie into extra time.
With Tottenham on the ropesOrsic delivered the knockout blow when he dribbled round Tottenham players before firing past Lloris in the 106th minute, prompting ecstatic celebrations.
Zagreb resisted a belated Tottenham siege in which Harry Kane and Gareth Bale were denied what would have been a winner by home keeper Dominik Livakovic.
Dinamo’s win was even more remarkable because coach Zoran Mamic had quit four days ago after being handed a five-year prison sentence for tax evasion and fraud.
“This was a wonderful game -- one you like to dream about, but you don't dare to,” said DamirKrznar, who replaced Mamic.
“The draw? We are enjoying this position and let fortune bring us whoever. We will be ready, like we were for Tottenham.”
It was a crushing blow for Spurs and one that left manager Jose Mourinho accusing his players of failing to match the attitude of a Zagreb side he praised for leaving their "blood, sweat and tears" on the pitch.
“My team didn’t look like they were playing an important match. If for any one of them it is not an important match, for me it is, for the respect I have for my own career and for my own job, every match is an important match,” Mourinho said.