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SIC'S AND OUT
Zagreb 3 Tottenham 0 (3-2 agg): Watch Orsic’s outrageous hat-trick as lacklustre Spurs are stunned by Croatians
THE authorities come down heavily on footballing fraudsters in this part of the world.
So Jose Mourinho and his Spurs stars might be wondering if they should be be allowed out of Croatia following this.
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The hosts suffered the worst possible preparation as their coach, Zoran Mamic, was jailed for nearly five years for embezzlement.
But after this it is Mourinho and his men who deserve to be banged up for impersonating a Premier League team.
It was a criminal display by Tottenham in this Europa League last 16 crunch as they threw away a 2-0 first leg lead.
Mislav Orsic fired a spectacular hat-trick to ensure the Croatians pulled off a great escape their incarcerated former gaffer can only dream of.
As for Mourinho, he faces being shoved into the stocks by Spurs fans for once again playing with the handcuffs on.
Having lifted this trophy previously with Porto and Manchester United, he made no secret of his desire to win it again this time.
Now, with Tottenham’s top-four hopes floundering, their Carabao Cup final against Manchester City next month is now almost a must-win in terms of his future in N17.
But how are they going to deal with Pep Guardiola’s array of superstars if they could not handle Orsic?
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The ex-Ulsan Hyandai player may have had No99 on his shirt but it was definitely the Spurs defence who were flakey.
Heaven knows what Mamic was thinking as he was listening to the transistor radio while sat on the bunk in his prison cell.
As for Tottenham, watching this turgid affair was a life sentence. With no parole.
Performances like this back up those Spurs fans’ verdicts that watching their team under the Special One is pure torture.
Mamic was refused bail and Mourinho snubbed Gareth Bale, leaving the Welsh superstar on the bench after his lethargic showing at Arsenal on Sunday.
Croatian league leaders Zagreb have only lost twice at home this season and Mourinho warned his squad beforehand that, despite their two-goal advantage, this tie was far from over. And so it proved.
After a comfortable opening 35 minutes, Lovro Majer drilled a shot wide for the hosts in the 35th minute before Hugo Lloris felt he had to palm away a touch from his own defender Davinson Sanchez moments later.
Tottenham’s best effort of the first half came when Harry Kane had a shot blocked by Dinamo keeper Dominik Livakovic just before the interval.
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The expected second-half improvement from Spurs did not come and with his men under the cosh, Mourinho brought on Bale for Erik Lamela.
But this altered nothing as the Premier League side saw their advantage halved when Mislav Orsic cut inside and curled in a wonderful shot to put the hosts 1-0 up on the night in the 62nd minute.
It was no more than Dinamo deserved and Mourinho could stand no more as he quickly replaced Dele Alli and Harry Winks with Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele.
Spurs instantly looked sharper with Lo Celso having a snap shot clawed away by Livakovic.
But still they could not stem the Zagreb tide and Orsic fired home his second in the 82nd minute from a great cross by Iyayi Atiemwen - to the level tie on aggregate.
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Spurs responded with Kane having a far-post header from Bale’s centre blocked and cleared off the line by Kevn Theophile-Catherine.
Mourinho’s face looked like thunder as the ref blew for full-time and he sent on Sergio Reguilon for Ben Davies for the extra 30 minutes.
Still there was no improvement from Mourinho’s men and they had an almighty let-off when Marin Leovac side-footed tamely wide in the first period of extra time.
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But 50 seconds in the second period Orsic completed his hat-trick with a stunning low finish.
Kane had three efforts blocked by the dogged Dinamo defence - although Tottenham had Lloris to thank for diving at Orsic’s feet to deny him another.
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