Tottenham Hotspur edge closer to qualification with win over Sheriff Tiraspol

Tottenham Hotspur have squeezed past Sheriff Tiraspol 2-0 in the Europa League this evening to leave them on the brink of qualification from Group K.

Goals from Jan Vertonghen and Jermain Defoe were enough for Andre Villas-Boas's side, although they will have to wait until the next round of games to confirm their progress following Anzhi Makhachkala's 1-0 win over Tromso.

Belgium international Vertonghen opened the scoring after 12 minutes when he headed home Christian Eriksen's cross, after the Dane had originally played a short corner to allow him the room to centre from a different angle.

Henrique Luvannor nearly equalised moments later after he rounded Hugo Lloris but Vlad Chiriches persisted, and cleared off the line with a sliding stop.

Aaron Lennon nearly doubled the lead after the break when he finished off a mazy dribble with a shot against the post with 67 minutes gone, after he had earlier gone close with a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

However, Spurs had their second less than 10 minutes later when Defoe's deflected shot took it over Sheriff keeper Vjekoslav Tomic into the top corner.