PAOK stuns Tottenham to progress in Europa League
PAOK has qualified for the last 32 of the Europa League thanks to a famous 2-1 win over Tottenham in London on November 30.
The Thessaloniki team managed the Group A victory at White Hart Lane despite playing with 10 men for almost an hour.
Sloppy marking from Sebastien Bassong allowed Dimitris Salpingidis and Stefanos Athanasiadis to give the Greeks a 2-0 lead after 13 minutes.
Spurs pulled one back with a Luka Modric penalty after Constantinos Stafylidis was dismissed for handball on the line. The young PAOK player argued that the ball did not hit his arm.
Tottenham thought they had equalized through Jermain Defoe in the second half, but referee Bas Nijhuis disallowed the striker’s goal for a foul on Pablo Contreras.
The win leaves PAOK top of the group with 11 points. It will host second-placed Rubin Kazan, on 10 points, in the final game but with Tottenham only on 7 points, it means that the Premier League side cannot catch the Greeks and at least a second place finish is guaranteed.
