Robbie Keane grabbed the only goal as Tottenham beat Slavia Prague 1-0 for a 2-0 aggregate in their UEFA Cup first-round, second-leg clash on Thursday.
It has been a difficult start to the season at White Hart Lane, but for all their struggles, they at least have the consolation of a UEFA Cup group phase to look forward to.
Goals have been Spurs' problem all season -- six Premiership games bringing just two, and those against bottom side Sheffield United -- and for a long time on Thursday they suffered more frustration.
Tottenham manager Martin Jol may point to his injury-list, which, after their captain Ledley King failed a late fitness test on his knee, stretched to eight players, but that does not explain Keane's almost total lack of belief in front of goal at least until the closing minutes.
He was no more than two meters from the goal when Jermaine Jenas's left-wing corner reached him at the back-post, and, while he was back-pedalling and stretching, it still defied belief that he could not direct his header on target.
If anything, his missing four minutes from half-time was even worse, for this time there were no excuses about the cross being slightly high.
Pascal Chimbonda, whose forward surges down the right had been a feature of the first half, laid in Danny Murphy, and his cross found Keane in space at the back post.
As the ball became caught up in the Republic of Ireland international's feet, there was a sense of inevitability about what followed, as he stabbed an unconvincing shot straight at Slavia goalkeeper Matus Kozacik.
Slavia themselves seemed content to draw Tottenham's sting, and their forays were rare.
They did, though, cause the home side the occasional problem.
Tomas Hrdlicka, having created space with a deft turn, seemed to panic somewhat and sliced his finish across the face of goal with just five minutes gone, and then Pavel Fort almost embarrassed Paul Robinson with a looping header.
Having lost the first leg 1-0, though, the Czech side needed a goal, and they were markedly more aggressive after half-time. Twice in the first six minutes of the second half right-back Matek Krajcik got forward to fizz drives just over the angle.
The game became rather more open as the away side pushed forwards, but Tottenham still struggled to take advantage, although it took a superb defensive header from centre-back Martin Latka to prevent Calum Davenport converting a cleverly flipped cross from Chimbonda.
Tottenham found the winner after 80 minutes.
Didier Zokora swept in a cross from wide on the right, the Egyptian substitute Hossam Ghaly chested it down, and Keane pivoted to whip a low shot inside the right-hand post.
In other games on Thursday, Newcastle defeated Tallinn 2-0 while Blackburn were also 2-0 winners against Salzburg. Glasgow Rangers, who had lost their last two Scottish Premier League games, bounced back with a 2-0 victory over Molde. However, West Ham's problems continued as they crashed out 4-0 on aggregate to Palermo while former European champions Marseille were the night's biggest casualties losing to Mlado Boleslav 4-3 on aggregate in their first round second leg tie.
Nigerian international striker Obafemi Martins claimed his first goals at St James' Park as Newcastle booked their place in the group stage with a 2-0 victory over Levadia Tallinn.
RSS