Jermain Defoe celebrates after scoring against the Shamrock Rovers. Photo / AP
Tottenham was eliminated from the Europa League despite beating Shamrock Rovers 4-0 today, as 10-man Rubin Kazan got the point it needed to reach the knockout stage.
Tottenham looked well set to advance when leading 3-0 in Dublin while the Russians trailed 1-0 at Group A leader PAOK.
Rubin also had goalkeeper Sergei Ryzhikov sent off for conceding a 16th-minute penalty scored by PAOK winger Vieirinha.
But Rubin leveled in the 48th through Paraguay forward Nelson Valdez and held on to draw 1-1.
That result made it academic when Harry Kane scored Tottenham's fourth in stoppage-time, adding to first-half goals from Steven Pienaar, Andros Townsend and Jermain Defoe.
Tottenham reached the Champions League quarterfinals last season, but paid the price for fielding under-strength teams in Europe's second-tier competition.
Standard Liege and Hannover go into Friday's last-32 draw from Group B, and PSV Eindhoven and Legia Warsaw had already progressed from Group C.
Liege got a 1-0 win at FC Copenhagen through Michy Batshuayi's 31st-minute goal, while Hannover won 3-1 against Vorskla Poltava after goals from Konstantin Rauch, Didier Konan Ya and Artur Sobiech.
PSV beat Rapid Bucharest 2-1 at home, and Legia lost 2-0 away to Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
- AP
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