After Liverpool defeated FC Barcelona to complete a stunning comeback and advance to the Champions League Final, few could’ve ever predicted that Wednesday’s Ajax-Tottenham matchup could live up to the drama of that game.
They had no idea what was in store.
After winning the first leg in London by a 0-1 final, Ajax hosted Tottenham in the second leg of the semi-final with a big advantage.
When Ajax scored the first two goals of the game to go up 2-0 in the 35th minute, everything looked settled. The Dutch team would be moving on to face Liverpool in the final after Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech stretched their aggregate lead to 3-0.
After the half, however, everything changed.
Unheralded striker Lucas Moura, an injured Harry Kane’s replacement, wasn’t going to allow his team to go home without a fight. He knocked in Spurs’ first goal in the 55th minute after a brilliant counter-attack.
Things got even more interesting in the 59th minute, only four minutes later, the Brazilian striker scored another goal after Ajax failed to clear an Andre Onana save.
The score was 2-2, and another Tottenham goal would qualify them for the Final.
Ajax held strong for the next 35 minutes, keeping Tottenham out of the net.
With the last chance of the game, in the 5th minute of stoppage time, the unbelievable happened.
Moura scored his third goal of the night in the final minute of stoppage time after a Dele Alli assist, and pandemonium took hold.
Spurs won the match 2-3 and the draw on away goals. They head to Madrid to face Liverpool in the UCL final for the first time in the club’s history on June 1st.
