Stoppage time goal takes Tottenham to Champions League final for first time

Club known for its strong support by Jewish community completes near-miraculous comeback, leaving Amsterdam’s Ajax brokenhearted

AMSTERDAM — Facing a three-goal deficit at halftime, Tottenham on Wednesday pulled off a Champions League comeback for the ages.

Lucas Moura completed a hat trick in the sixth minute of injury time as Tottenham rallied to beat Ajax 3-2 and reach its first Champions League final, ending a remarkable run by the young Dutch team that had knocked off some of Europe’s biggest teams along the way.

A day after Liverpool stunningly erased a 3-0 deficit from the first leg by beating Barcelona 4-0 at Anfield, Moura nearly single-handedly helped Tottenham pull off a similar feat in Amsterdam.

Ajax seemed to have the two-legged semifinal wrapped up by halftime after teenage captain Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech netted to put it 2-0 up at the break — and 3-0 on aggregate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QxkhcNLPtk

But Moura scored twice in a four-minute span to put the visitors one goal from going through 3-3 on aggregate thanks to the away goals rule.

After Jan Vertonghen’s header hit the crossbar in the 87th minute, that goal finally arrived when Moura struck again deep into injury time. Dele Alli laid the ball off the Brazilian as he streaked into the area and his low shot crept inside the right post to complete another improbable victory.

“It’s impossible to explain what I’m feeling in this moment,” Moura said. “We always believed it was possible, and we gave everything on the pitch. I think we deserved this moment.”

Moura’s winner led to a pile-up of Spurs players by the corner flag celebrating one of the biggest wins in club history, as the disbelieving Ajax players lay on the ground.

Tottenham’s Brazilian forward Lucas Moura vies with Ajax’s Dutch defender Daley Blind (R) and Ajax’s Moroccan midfielder Hakim Ziyech (L) during the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg football match between Ajax Amsterdam and Tottenham Hotspur at the Johan Cruyff Arena, in Amsterdam, on May 8, 2019. (Adrian DENNIS / AFP)

It means Tottenham will face Liverpool in Madrid on June 1 in the first all-English final since Manchester United beat Chelsea in 2008. That’s a scenario few had imagined last week when Barcelona and Ajax both won the first legs.

“We saw Liverpool last night, it goes to show it’s not over until it is over,” Tottenham full-back Danny Rose said.

For Ajax, it ended a dream run that saw a team built around young homegrown talents knock out Real Madrid and Juventus before putting themselves on the brink of the club’s first Champions League final since 1995.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino, who is still looking for his first title with the club, was in tears as he celebrated on the field and broke down again in a TV interview.

“It’s still difficult to talk. Thank you football, thank you these guys, my players. This type of emotion, without football I think is impossible to [experience],” Pochettino said. “They are all heroes but [Moura] is a superhero.”

Ajax’s Cameroonian goalkeeper Andre Onana concedes a goal during the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg football match between Ajax Amsterdam and Tottenham Hotspur at the Johan Cruyff Arena, in Amsterdam, on May 8, 2019. (EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP)

Tottenham traditionally has a large fan base among London’s Jewish community and some opposing fans regularly direct anti-Semitic abuse at supporters of the team, while Ajax also has a historic Jewish fan base.

Many Tottenham fans who are not themselves Jewish have adopted the word “Yid” — a derogatory alternative for “Jews” — as a badge of honor in recognition of the team’s Jewish support.

The World Jewish Congress and the Board of Deputies of British Jews have urged the team to oppose the use of the word. But the club has insisted its fans “have never used the term with any offense.”