Tottenham withstand Slavia surge

Tottenham Hotspur FC overcame a scare to move past SK Slavia Praha into the UEFA Cup Round of 16.

Draw enough
Aiming to become the competition's fourth three-time winners, Tottenham led 2-1 from the away leg and increased their lead when Jamie O'Hara opened his account for the club. Matej Krajčík scored early in the second half to put Slavia within a goal of extra time and David Střihavka hit the post but Tottenham held on to earn a tie against PSV Eindhoven.

O'Hara goal
Thanks to their victory in Prague last week, Tottenham manager Juande Ramos was able to make changes to his team ahead of Sunday's English League Cup final against Chelsea FC, notably recalling England goalkeeper Paul Robinson for his first appearance since early January in place of former Slavia custodian Radek Černý. The 21-year-old O'Hara, who only made his Spurs debut in December after a loan at Millwall FC, opened the scoring on just seven minutes when his effort deflected off Martin Latka and past Slavia goalkeeper Michal Vorel.

Krajčík strikes
Tom Huddlestone then tested Vorel, whose parry fell to Aaron Lennon to shoot wide. O'Hara very nearly turned provider just before the half-hour when his cross from the left was headed against the crossbar by Darren Bent, but the lack of a second Tottenham goal was exposed in the 51st minute when Daniel Pudil's fine centre from the left fell nicely for Krajčík to turn in at the far post.

Střihavka so close
Robinson was beaten on that occasion but in the 63rd minute he made a vital save to deny Latka as he sought to level the aggregate score. The goalkeeper was then relieved when Střihavka's hooked shot cannoned off the woodwork, and Robinson dived to his left to tip away a curling free-kick from substitute Milan Ivana. At the other end Bent again struck the bar, this time with a deflected shot, as Spurs nervously saw out the game.