Benfica v Tottenham

Benfica 2

Garay 34′ Lima 90′ (pen)

Tottenham 2

Chadli 78′, 79′

FT 90 +5
HT 1-0
(agg 5 - 3)

By Alistair Magowan BBC Sport

Tottenham exited the Europa League despite staging a second-half fightback against Benfica that put them close to taking the tie to extra time.

Ezequiel Garay headed in to put the hosts 4-1 up on aggregate.

But with the tie seemingly over, Nacer Chadli scored twice in a minute.

Spurs almost grabbed another as Gylfi Sigurdsson's injury-time header was saved, but Benfica made it 2-2 on the night and 5-3 overall when Lima scored from the penalty spot.

Having been outclassed in the first leg of the last-16 tie and looking weary in Lisbon, Tottenham's late surge almost inflicted Benfica's first defeat in 23 games in all competitions.

But Sandro's barge on Lima gifted the hosts a chance to level the scores and the Brazilian substitute sent Brad Friedel the wrong way with the last kick of the game.

Despite the aggregate defeat, Tottenham at least showed the character that boss Tim Sherwood desired prior to kick-off.

With late chances for Sigurdsson and substitute Harry Kane, who also had a penalty appeal turned down, Spurs could have taken victory but they will look back on their 3-1 first-leg defeat as the reason for their exit.

The fact they salvaged a draw with an injury-hit squad against last season's runners-up will be pleasing for Sherwood, who saw his team end a run of three successive defeats.

Spurs are fifth in the Premier League, on course to qualify for next season's Europa League, but it remains to be seen if Sherwood will be at White Hart Lane after the club was strongly linked with Louis van Gaal.

Sherwood has publicly criticised his players in recent weeks and he called for leadership from his side, who were without a recognised centre-back - midfielder Sandro and full-back Ezekiel Fryers deputising in the heart of the defence.

But they began slowly and, after Roberto Soldado scuffed a shot at the back post and then fired over from close range, Garay's first-half goal put a technically superior Benfica in control.

Sherwood decided to watch from the stands after his fall-out with Benfica manager Jorge Jesus in the first leg. He was still infuriated after his side wasted a good free-kick opportunity a minute before the opener, with captain Aaron Lennon making a feeble challenge on Eduardo Salvio, who chipped a cross to team-mate Garay.

In the first half, there were signs of promise from a young Spurs side on the counter attack and Andros Townsend shot wide in one decent opportunity after the break.

Then, with 12 minutes left, Chadli cut in from the right before firing a shot past Benfica keeper Jan Oblak.

A minute later, the Belgian winger pounced on Kane's header from Lennon's cross to put Spurs within reach of extra time.

Three excellent chances followed but Oblak made two good stops before Lima equalised for the relieved hosts.

Lineup, Bookings (3) & Substitutions (5)

Benfica

41 Oblak
14 Maxi Pereira
16 Siqueira
06 Amorim
04 Luisão Booked
24 Garay
18 Salvio
30 André Gomes
07 Cardozo (Lima - 76' )
10 Djuricic (Pérez - 71' Booked )
08 Sulejmani (Markovic - 93' )

Substitutes

11 Lima
13 Lopes
19 Rodrigo
33 Jardel
34 Almeida
35 Pérez
50 Markovic

Tottenham Hotspur

24 Friedel
16 Naughton Booked
03 Rose
22 Sigurdsson
30 Sandro
35 Fryers
07 Lennon
42 Bentaleb
09 Soldado (Kane - 71' )
21 Chadli
17 Townsend (Eriksen - 76' )

Substitutes

23 Eriksen
37 Kane
51 Veljkovic
56 Archer
62 Winks
63 Ogilvie
64 Ball

Ref: Damir Skomina

Match Stats

Possession 55 45

Shots

8 11

On target

3 5

Corners

6 5

Fouls

12 3

Live Text Commentary

Full time

Full Time Match ends, Benfica 2, Tottenham Hotspur 2.

90:00 +4:30 Full time

Full Time Second Half ends, Benfica 2, Tottenham Hotspur 2.

90:00 +4:07 Goal scored

Goal! Goal! Benfica 2, Tottenham Hotspur 2. Lima (Benfica) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.

90:00 +3:19

Penalty Benfica. Lima draws a foul in the penalty area.

90:00 +3:19

Penalty conceded by Sandro (Tottenham Hotspur) after a foul in the penalty area.

90:00 +2:37

Attempt saved. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) header from the left side of the six yard box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Nacer Chadli with a cross.

90:00 +2:03 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Benfica. Lazar Markovic replaces Miralem Sulejmani.

90:00 +1:06

Attempt saved. Gylfi Sigurdsson (Tottenham Hotspur) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Nacer Chadli.

89:29 Booking

Booking Enzo Pérez (Benfica) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

89:26

Foul by Enzo Pérez (Benfica).

89:26

Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

85:31

Attempt saved. Eduardo Salvio (Benfica) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Miralem Sulejmani with a cross.

78:42 Goal scored

Goal! Goal! Benfica 1, Tottenham Hotspur 2. Nacer Chadli (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from very close range to the top right corner. Assisted by Harry Kane with a headed pass.

78:05

Offside, Benfica. Ezequiel Garay tries a through ball, but Eduardo Salvio is caught offside.

77:02 Goal scored

Goal! Goal! Benfica 1, Tottenham Hotspur 1. Nacer Chadli (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Harry Kane with a headed pass.

76:15

Hand ball by Eduardo Salvio (Benfica).

75:16 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Tottenham Hotspur. Christian Eriksen replaces Andros Townsend.

75:04 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Benfica. Lima replaces Óscar Cardozo.