Tag: Dinamo Zagreb

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MICHAIL ANTONIO AND DECLAN RICE FIRE WESTHAM TO VICTORY AGAINST DINAMO ZAGREB

West Ham announced themselves on the Europa League stage as goals from Michail Antonio and Declan Rice secured a 2-0 victory at Dinamo Zagreb.

The Hammers’ very own Ant and Dec provided the tea-time entertainment in Croatia by finding the net either side of half-time.

Antonio was probably only in the team due to the red card he picked up at Southampton, which has instead given him an enforced rest against Manchester United on Sunday.

But striker brought his sizzling domestic form to the continent with his fifth goal of the season.

Rice, making his European club debut with 26 caps for England already to his name, added the second to give David Moyes’ side a comfortable win in their first ever group stage match.

It is only the ninth time the Hammers have even been in Europe and the last time they won a match, not including qualifiers, was in 1999 against another Croatian side, Osijek.

Manager Moyes admitted beforehand that the trip to the Croatian league and cup winners might be their toughest assignment in Group H.

After all, Dinamo had reached the quarter-finals last season while accounting for Tottenham 3-0 along their way.

As such Moyes named a strong line-up despite making five changes from the weekend draw at Southampton, with Tomas Soucek and £30 million (€35 million) new signing Kurt Zouma joining Rice and Antonio in the starting XI at the Maksimir Stadium.

His side opened the scoring in the 22nd minute thanks to a shocking backpass which will give Jesse Lingard flashbacks to his error earlier this week.

Kevin Theophile-Catherine was the guilty party with Antonio onto the loose ball like a flash.

He poked the ball past stranded keeper Dominik Livakovic and from a tight angle rolled it into an empty net.

Ryan Fredericks should have made it two moments later after he was sent through by Antonio’s clever flick, but Livakovic stood up well and saved with his feet.

Another summer signing, Nikola Vlasic, back in his home country, could have added a second before half-time but saw one shot blocked in a crowded penalty area and flashed another just wide.

Instead Rice doubled the lead with a maiden European goal following a trademark surging run five minutes into the second half.

Rice burst through a challenge on the halfway line and charged forward before lashing a shot through Livakovic’s legs.

Pablo Fornals saw a late effort kept out by Livakovic, while Hammers keeper Lukasz Fabianski barely had a shot to save in an impressive opening to West Ham’s European campaign.

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ORSIC HAT-TRICK HELP DINAMO ZAGREB DUMP TOTTENHAM OUT OF EUROPA LEAGUE

Mislav Orsic scored a brilliant hat-trick as Dinamo Zagreb produced a remarkable fightback to dump Tottenham out of the Europa League.

The Croatian side trailed 2-0 after the first leg of their last-16 tie but hit back to win the return 3-0 after extra time and snatch a place in the quarter-final draw.

Jose Mourinho’s Spurs looked set to prevail after holding the hosts in a goalless opening half at the Maksimir Stadium but Orsic gave Zagreb hope with a fine long-range just after the hour.

He then levelled the tie by finishing off a fine team move seven minutes from time and capped a fine comeback following a superb solo run in extra time.

Spurs upped the tempo in a frantic finish but Dinamo held on for a deserved win.

North London rivals Arsenal were also below par but did enough to go through despite a 1-0 defeat to Olympiacos at the Emirates Stadium.

Youssef El-Arabi, who also scored in the first leg, grabbed the only goal on the night but Mikel Arteta’s side held on for a 3-2 aggregate win.

The visitors’ hopes effectively ended when Ousseynou Ba was sent off for a second bookable offence seven minutes from time.

Roma cruised through as they claimed a 2-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in Kiev to win 5-1 on aggregate.

Spanish striker Borja Mayoral scored both goals for the Italian side either side of a reply from Junior Moraes.

LaLiga side Granada reached the last eight despite going down to a last-gasp defeat at the hands of Molde in Norway.

An own goal from Jesus Vallejo and a last-minute penalty from Eirik Hestad gave the Norwegians a 2-1 success but Granada, who scored a crucial away goal through substitute Roberto Soldado, progressed 3-2 on aggregate.

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KANE BRACE PUTS TOTTENHAM IN DRIVING SEAT AGAINST DINAMO ZAGREB

Harry Kane’s sensational season continued as his two goals put Tottenham on course for the Europa League quarter-finals as they beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 in the last-16 first leg.

The England captain is having one of his most productive campaigns and took his tally to 26 goals in 37 appearances, while also contributing 16 assists.

A strike in either half against the Croatians justified Jose Mourinho’s decision to select his main striker, despite the north London derby being just 72 hours away, and he equalled a club record of eight European goals in a single season set by Martin Chivers twice and Martin Peters.

He will surely break that if Spurs are to go on and win the competition, which Mourinho is targeting, though his display here might give him next week’s second leg in Zagreb off.

Spurs still have work to do in the Croatian capital, but the result here makes their task easier and the last eight is looming.

Dinamo arrived in north London on the back of an eight-game winning run and they were a clear step up from the standard of opposition Spurs have previously faced in this competition.

Indeed, the night could have taken a different path had Mislav Orsic taken a golden chance presented to him in the opening minute.

A wayward pass from Tanguy Ndombele set Orsic in the clear but once he got into the penalty area, his effort was tame and straight at Hugo Lloris.

Spurs took advantage of their let-off and went ahead in the 25th minute after assuming control of the match.

Kane was the goalscorer but it was Erik Lamela who he had to thank as a fine piece of skill saw the Argentinian ride a challenge and breeze into the box, where his shot hit the post, giving the England captain a simple tap-in.

It was Kane’s 25th goal in all competitions of a highly productive season.

The hosts continued to be the aggressors but they found clear chances to add to their lead hard to come by against a compact defence.

They thought they should have had a penalty early in the second half when Ndomeble appeared to be clipped by Lovro Majer but referee Serdar Gozubuyuk waved away appeals and the incident was not referred to VAR.

Spurs eventually doubled their lead in the 70th minute and it was that man Kane again.

Ndombele’s long ball found Aurier in space and his cross was not cleared by Kevin Theophile-Catherine, with Kane pouncing to fire home from 10 yards out.

Gareth Bale stepped off the bench and almost put the tie beyond Zagreb with a trademark free-kick from distance which swerved and dipped and forced Dominik Livakovic to punch clear.

Kane’s work for the evening was done and he was replaced by Carlos Vinicius before being seen on the touchline with ice on his knee, which Spurs will hope is just a precaution ahead of Sunday’s trip to Arsenal.

Bale had another chance to completely kill the tie at the death but he poked Steven Bergwijn’s cross wide.