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UEFA Europa League: Spurs 3 Dinamo Tbilisi 0

Two first-half strikes from Jermain Defoe ended all hope of a miraculous comeback from the Georgian visitors, before Lewis Holtby wrapped things up midway through the second period with a controlled effort from distance.

And the London club will now take their place in the group stages of the Europa League for the third consecutive season, as they look to build on last year's quarter-final appearance.

But the diminutive striker would have his moment before the half was out, as he latched onto a Holtby pass before shifting the ball away from Giorgi Gvelesiani and smashing home from the edge of the box with his left foot. And with seconds remaining in the first period, he would repeat the trick to double his side's advantage, finishing from close range after Gylfi Sigurdsson had jinked into the box brilliantly.

With Sunday’s north London derby clash with Arsenal in the Premier League undoubtedly in mind, Villas-Boas elected to replace Andros Townsend with young striker Harry Kane at half-time. The change had no effect on the hosts' control of the game, with Sigurdsson hitting the side netting from distance before Spurs also moved to protect Kyle Walker by replacing him with Ezekiel Fryers.