Dominic Solanke was the hero at Frankfurt Stadion as Tottenham progressed to the UEFA Europa League semi-finals.
2024/2025 UEFA Europa League
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Match Report
Dominic Solanke's penalty was enough for Tottenham to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 and book their place in the Europa League semi-finals.
With the tie locked at 1-1 from the first leg in North London last week, Solanke kept his cool from 12 yards in the first half at Deutsch Park to secure a 2-1 aggregate triumph.
Fares Chaibi and Rasmus Kristensen missed big second-half chances for Eintracht as Spurs held on for a priceless win.
Victory in this quarter-final tie eases some of the pressure on under-fire boss Ange Postecoglou, who knows winning this tournament might be the only way to keep him in the job.
Micky van de Ven made a fantastic last-gasp tackle to deny Hugo Ekitike one-on-one after 15 minutes, while Kaua Santos saved Mathys Tel's long-range bending effort.
But Santos was punished for clattering into James Maddison after referee Davide Massa consulted the pitch-side VAR monitor and Solanke sent his spot-kick straight down the middle two minutes before the break.
Chaibi had Guglielmo Vicario scrambling with an excellent 30-yard free-kick shortly after the restart, while Cristian Romero planted a header wide from a Spurs corner at the other end.
Vicario then pulled off an exquisite save with his legs when Chaibi met Kristensen's near-post cutback, with the latter missing a gilt-edged chance when he bent wide from 10 yards as Spurs clung on amid heavy second-half pressure.
Iconic. pic.twitter.com/KNfeBC2tyF
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 17, 2025
Data Debrief: Super Solanke sends Spurs through
Solanke now has three goals and four assists in this season's Europa League, with this contribution absolutely crucial.
Among Englishmen, only James Tavernier in 2021-22 (seven goals, two assists) and Bobby Zamora in 2009-10 (six goals, two assists) have been involved in more goals in a single Europa League campaign.
No Spurs player registered more shots in the game than the England striker (three, level with Tel).
Meanwhile, only Dejan Kulusevski (five) managed more than Solanke's four touches in the opposition box in a talismanic performance.
Key stats
Tottenham are through to their first European semi-final since the 2018/19 Champions League.
This was only Frankfurt's third defeat in their last 25 Europa League matches.
Solanke's goal was Tottenham's first penalty in an away Europa League game since Dele Alli struck against LASK in December 2020.
Tottenham have now converted their last 11 penalties in the Europa League.
Rangers' James Tavernier in 2021/22 (seven goals, two assists) and Bobby Zamora for Fulham in 2009/10 (six goals, two assists) are the only English players to have been involved in more goals in a single Europa League season than Solanke this term (three goals, four assists).
Frankfurt failed to score for only the second time in 25 Europa League matches.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
3' Goetze delivers perfect cross but Bahoya's touch lacks power in shot
10' Solanke challenges and his shoulder hits Koch's head. Referee stops the game
17' Forced substitution: Goetze injured, Chaibi comes on as substitute
20' Johnson crosses low from the right but Tel misses the shot
24' Chaibi's header was saved by the goalkeeper
25' Tel's long-range shot is parried away by Santos
43' Goal! Solanke scores from the penalty spot (Frankfurt 0-1 Tottenham)
57' Chaibi's free kick is just wide of the target
57' Christensen fouls with a tackle and referee shows a yellow card
61' Corner delivered. Romero's header grazes the post but goes out
77' Vicario makes a big save and Christensen's header goes wide
82' Christensen shoots with his left at the far post, but the ball goes wide
Line-ups
Frankfurt XI: Gotze, Skhiri, Koch, Rasmus Kristensen, Tuta, Hugo Ekitiké, Arthur Theate, Hugo Larsson, Nathaniel Brown, Jean-Mattéo Bahoya, Kauã Santos
Subs: Jens Grahl, Chandler, Batshuayi, Dahoud, Nkounkou, Elye Wahi, Ansgar Knauff, Nnamdi Collins, Aurèle Amenda, Can Uzun, Farès Chaïbi, Amil Siljevic
Tottenham XI: Maddison, Solanke, Vicario, Bentancur, Cristian Romero, Porro, Udojie, Brennan Johnson, Van de Ven, Tel, Bergvall
Subs: Ben Davies, Danso, Richarlison, Whiteman, Bissouma, Austin, Kulusevski, Spence, Pape Sarr, Odobert, Gray, Moore