Europa League: Tottenham Tops Group, Antwerp Qualifies In 30 Years

Tottenham Hotspur progressed as Europa League Group J winner with a 2-0 home win over Royal Antwerp as Carlos Vinicius and Giovanni Lo Celso were on target on Thursday night.

AllNews understands that the victory means Spurs will be seeded in the last 32 thereby avoiding some of the favorites in Monday's draw.

Antwerp finished a point behind Tottenham, who has 13, which means the Belgians have reached the knockout stage of European competition for the first time in 30 years while Spurs are among the favorites for Europe's second-tier competition.

READ ALSO: Europa League: Tottenham Defeats Ludogorets 4-0, Vinicius Scores Brace

Tottenham enjoyed the majority of possession in a tame first half on a chilly night in north London. There was little for the almost 2,000-strong fans to cheer, aside from an early Bale header wide and a Lo Celso shot saved by Beiranvand.

But the hosts took the lead in the 57th when Vinicius had an easy tap after Beiranvand saved Bale's free-kick only for the ball to come back off the post into the striker's path. It was the on-loan Benfica player's third Europa League goal for Spurs.

Home coach Jose Mourinho then brought on the big guns of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, and Tanguy Ndombele to secure the win. It worked as Kane released an overlapping Lo Celso on his right in the 71st, with the midfielder poking the ball home.

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— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 10, 2020

"When I thought about the changes the result was 0-0 then we scored the (first) goal but I didn't change my mind. It was a question of trying to kill the game," said Mourinho. "I thought in the second half with a bit of intensity they will collapse."