• Europa League round-up

Spurs & Chelsea survive, Toon win at the death

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Tottenham survived an almightly scare to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday, as Chelsea came from behind to progress at Stamford Bridge.

Newcastle then ensured it was a perfect night for English clubs, as Papiss Cisse scored at the death to break the deadlock against Anzhi Makhachkala and secure an eventual 1-0 aggregate victory.

Comfortably in control after the first leg at White Hart Lane, Andre Villas-Boas' side contrived to concede three unanswered strikes at the San Siro - with the last of those, a comical William Gallas own goal, sending the game to extra time.

Without the suspended Gareth Bale things did not look good for the Premier League side - but Emmanuel Adebayor prodded home after reacting fastest to Moussa Dembele's saved shot to put the English club back ahead in the tie.

Ricky Alvarez then scored a header with 11 minutes remaining to ensure Spurs only led on away goals - but that advantage proved enough, as the final whistle enabled Villas-Boas and his team to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Heading into the second half at Stamford Bridge, meanwhile, Chelsea needed two goals in order to secure passage to the next round - but a late missed penalty from Fernando Torres ultimately proved irrelevant as the Spaniard and Terry had already both got on the scoresheet to achieve their aim.

Then, as the final whistle was blowing in that contest, Cisse headed home from close range deep into injury time at St James' Park to claim a 1-0 win on the night and on aggregate, as Alan Pardew's men dramatically knocked out their well-paid Russian opponents.

Emmanuel Adebayor answered the racist taunts of Inter Milan fans by scoring a killer away goal on a night that so nearly ended in humiliation for Tottenham, as they slipped to a 4-1 defeat.

Tottenham crushed Inter 3-0 in the first leg, but the Italian giants completely outclassed Andre Villas-Boas' shellshocked side in the first 90 minutes of this game.

Antonio Cassano put Inter ahead after 20 minutes and Rodrigo Palacio made it 2-0 after the break before William Gallas stabbed the ball into his own net to level the tie at 3-3 on aggregate.

Inter laid siege to the Spurs goal in the hunt for a killer fourth, but the visitors held on and Adebayor scored against the run of play in the first period of extra-time.

Inter scored again through Ricardo Alvarez to bring the tie level on aggregate at 4-4, but Adebayor's away goal was enough to see Spurs through to the last eight of the Europa League.

The match action was a thrilling advert for the often-derided competition, but the night was tarnished by racist abuse from the home fans towards Adebayor.

The Togo striker, who has suffered racist abuse in the past, was the target of monkey chanting.

UEFA will surely come under pressure to punish Inter, whose fans also waved inflatable bananas at Mario Balotelli in last month's Milan derby.

Fernando Torres fired Chelsea into the quarter-finals of the Europa League but also missed a penalty as last season's Champions League winners overcame Steaua Bucharest in the last-16 clash at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea had to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit to progress and levelled the tie through Juan Mata after 33 minutes, only for Vlad Chiriches to score on the stroke of half-time when the Blues failed to clear a corner.

The away goal meant Chelsea needed to score twice to be included in tomorrow's last-eight draw and captain John Terry headed in after 58 minutes and Torres netted after 71 minutes to seal victory - before the Spaniard hit the bar with an 87th-minute penalty.

Torres' strike was the £50million striker's second goal in 19 games - the effort at Middlesbrough which ricocheted in off his back was belatedly credited to Ramires - and his reward was a nosebleed sustained soon afterwards.

It was a crucial strike from the much-maligned Spaniard and means Chelsea, who play West Ham in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday, now face four games in nine days, beginning against Southampton on Easter Saturday.

Papiss Cisse was the hero for Newcastle © PA Photos

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Papiss Cisse repeated his injury-time heroics to head Newcastle into the quarter-finals as 10-man Anzhi Makhachkala finally succumbed.

The Senegal international, who fired the Magpies to a 2-1 Premier League win over Stoke on Sunday with a 92nd-minute strike, had to wait two minutes longer to power home Sylvain Marveaux's inviting cross with the final touch of an intriguing contest.

Anzhi, who had midfielder Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez sent off in the second half, came close with two minutes of normal time remaining when Mbark Boussoufa's free-kick came back off Rob Elliot's crossbar.

But on a night of high drama on Tyneside, Alan Pardew's men booked their place in Friday's draw for the last eight in Nyon in front of a crowd of 45,487.

Elsewhere, Benfica won 3-2 in Bordeaux to ensure their progression at the expense of their French opponents, while Lazio duly completed a 5-1 aggregate success against Stuttgart.

Fenerbahce, meanwhile, survived a nervy last 30 minutes in Turkey as they progressed 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 home draw against Viktoria Plzen.

In the night's other early kick-offs, FC Basel and Rubin Kazan progressed at the expense of Zenit St Petersburg and Levante respectively.

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