Europa League wrap: Spurs´ easy win in vain, Celtic exit

Tottenham beat Shamrock Rovers 4-0 but were still knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday while Celtic were also eliminated.

Spurs needed a big win, and for group leaders PAOK to defeat Rubin Kazan, and although they achieved a big result, the spoils were shared in Thessaloniki.

Steven Pienaar, Andros Townsend and Jermain Defoe all bagged first-half goals for Tottenham and they were never in doubt of picking up all three points in Dublin.

The Irish Premier League table-toppers put up a fight in the second half though and had a couple of chances of their own before substitute Harry Kane sealed the 4-0 win with his injury-time goal.

But a 10-man Rubin claimed the point they needed to finish second – and above Tottenham – in Group A after they drew 1-1 against the Greek side.

Things did not start well for the Russians with goalkeeper Sergei Ryzhikov sent off after just 13 minutes and Vieirinha's penalty shortly after saw them a goal behind.

Paraguay forward Nelson Valdez scored an equaliser in first-half injury time and it proved enough to send the Russians through to the knockout stages.

A 1-1 draw at Udinese was not enough for Celtic to progress from Group I, with Antonio di Natale cancelling out Gary Hooper's early strike.

Udinese qualified with Atletico Madrid, who topped the group and eased to a 3-1 home win over Stade Rennes.

In Group H, Sporting Braga and Club Brugge played out a 1-1 draw which meant that despite Birmingham City's 1-0 win over Maribor, the English club missed out by a point.

Chris Hughton's outfit won thanks to Adam Rooney's goal on 24 minutes but they needed either side to win in Brugge to progress on head-to-head standings.

But despite being down to 10 men, Braga – last season's finalists – managed to come from behind to claim a point.

In Group B, Standard Liege set a new Europa League record after they conceded just one goal in their six group matches.

The Belgians beat FC Copenhagen 1-0 in Denmark to finish on top of the group while Hannover 96 joined them in progressing after a 3-1 win over Vorskla of Ukraine.

PSV finished Group C undefeated after a 2-1 home success against Rapid Bucharest and despite a 2-0 loss at Hapoel Tel Aviv, Legia Warsaw also qualified.

And in Group G, Metalist Kharkiv held Eredivisie leaders AZ Alkmaar to a 1-1 draw as both sides progressed, with Austria Vienna's 2-0 win over Malmo having no bearing on the standings.

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