Tottenham pulls off another Champions League miracle, erasing 3-goal deficit in the final seconds to reach the final

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Tottenham pulls off another Champions League miracle, erasing 3-goal deficit in the final seconds to reach the final

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Tottenham Lucas Eriksen

AP Photo/Peter Dejong

Lucas Moura was a hero for Tottenham, scoring a hat trick in the second half to defeat Ajax in the Champions League semifinal.

  • Tottenham scored three goals in the second half of their Champions League match against Ajax to reach the final in miraculous fashion.
  • The hero of the match was Lucas Moura, who completed his hat trick in the final seconds of the match with the deciding goal, devastating the Ajax defense.
  • It's the second unbelievable Champions League finish in two days, following Liverpool's comeback on Tuesday and setting up a wild match in the final.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories

Tottenham Hotspur completed a second Champions League miracle in as many days, stunning Ajax with three goals in the second half of their match to reach the final.

Tottenham entered the match trailing 1-0 on aggregate after the first leg of the semifinal, but did themselves no favors in the first half on Wednesday, conceding two goals to Ajax in the opening 45 minutes. Spurs looked dead on offense, and with maestro Harry Kane still out with an injury, it was unclear where any spark for a comeback would come from.

It was Lucas Moura who answered the call.

After halftime, the Spurs offense suddenly came to life, and Moura quickly got to work on a hat trick that will go down in Tottenham history.

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Moura's first strike came 10 minutes into the second frame. After a crafty nutmeg from Danny Rose led to a perfectly placed long ball to Dele Alli, Moura swooped into the box to put away the Tottenham's first goal of the semifinal.

 

Moura would find the back of the net again just minutes later, cleaning up a rebound after Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana made a brilliant save on Fernando Llorente's initial strike.

With that goal, the second leg was knotted 2-2, but Tottenham still trailed 3-2 on aggregate, needing a third score to advance to the final on away goals.

As the clock ticked on, Tottenham had chances, but struggled to find the final strike necessary to complete the comeback. The team was forced to play an all-out attack through the closing minutes, leaving Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris to make a few stunning saves of his own to kept the game within reach.

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With five minutes of stoppage time added, Moura would finally make the play that will go down in club history in the 96th minute.

Spurs threw one final long ball into the attacking area in desperation, finding Llorente who pushed the ball forward to Alli, who needled a pass through to Moura. Moura then put just enough strength behind one final shot to complete his hat trick and send his team through to the final.

Ajax players collapsed on the field in stunned resignation, while Tottenham began a celebration they dared not dream of just an hour previous.

The win puts Tottenham through to the Champions League final, where they will face a Liverpool team fresh off their own miraculous three-goal comeback against Barcelona. The two clubs will play on June 1 in Madrid, with the winner taking home a trophy that both teams have coveted for years, but failed to attain.

Liverpool won both matches between the sides through this Premier League season by a score of 2-1, but after the two semifinals we just witnessed, it's safe to say the final is anyone's to win.

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