ZAGREB: Dinamo Zagreb sent Tottenham Hotspur crashing out of the Europa League after a stunning hat-trick by forward Mislav Orsic gave the Croatian champions a 3-2 aggregate win over the English side in their round of 16 tie on Thursday.
Dinamo won 3-0 on the night after extra time to reach the quarter-finals on coach Dario Krznar’s debut after he took over on Monday from Zoran Mamic, who stepped down upon learning he faces a prison sentence for fraud.
Trailing 2-0 from the first leg, a resurgent Dinamo pulled one back in the 62nd minute when Orsic beat visiting goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with a thunderbolt from 18 metres into the top corner after he cut inside the from the left.
Orsic levelled the tie in the 83d with an unstoppable first-time shot past Lloris from eight metres after a flowing move saw substitute Iyayi Atiemwen square the ball to the 28-year old from the right flank.
Orsic put the icing on the cake in the 106th minute with a dazzling solo effort as he beat four visiting defenders with a jinking run before unleashing a low drive past Lloris from the edge of the area.
Intense Spurs pressure in the last 10 minutes of the absorbing contest saw them miss a pair of sitters as home keeper Dominik Livakovic denied Gareth Bale and Harry Kane.