White Hart Lane last night bid farewell to a popular player.

Fans of Tottenham Hotspur very nearly said bye-bye to the Europa League too, had it not been for the belated intervention of Emmanuel Adebayor.

The striker scored twice in four minutes to send Spurs past a spirited Dnipro side and into the last 16 of the Europa League, where they will meet Benfica. The final whistle brought fans to their feet, then, although many had risen already to salute Jermain Defoe at half-time ahead of his move to Toronto.

There might have been some fans that would have wished to see the striker ushered back on two minutes after the break as Dnipro went ahead in the tie. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Spurs were last night upset by two headers from Roman Zozulya. His first put Dnipro ahead after 47 minutes but he was sent off for his second, thrusting his napper against Jan Vertonghen.

The London side responded by giving their visitors a beating, Christian Eriksen scoring the equaliser with a free-kick after 56 minutes. Adebayor then added two more goals for the home side - his first after 65 minutes and his second four minutes later - to put Spurs into the next round.