Erik Lamela scored a first-half hat-trick as Tottenham Hotspur thrashed AS Monaco 4-1 in their final Europa League Group J match at White Hart Lane to finish as group winners and knock the French side out.
With Spurs already through to the last 16 Mauricio Pochettino made seven changes to his starting XI, but his heavily-rotated side made the perfect start as Ben Davies crossed for Lamela to slot home in just the second minute of the game to give the hosts the lead.
Monaco looked shell-shocked, and Spurs' intensity in midfield was too much for the visitors as Tom Carroll began a sweeping move which resulted in Son Heung-min firing over.
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Just a minute after that attempt Spurs and Lamela doubled their tally courtesy of an error from Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic, who allowed the Argentine winger's low effort to squirm under him and into the net to leave the French side's qualification hopes in tatters.
Son came close with a spectacular effort and Carroll curled wide from the edge of the box as a rampant Spurs threatened to increase the damage, and though Monaco briefly threatened to get back into the match, the game seemed all but over eight minutes before the break.
Clinton N'Jie won the ball in his own half and when possession was worked to Son, the forward turned and played in Lamela who kept his cool to slot past Subasic and complete his hat-trick before half time.
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With the game virtually won, the pace and intensity of Spurs' play dropped after the restart, and their first chance did not arrive until just before the hour, when Josh Onomah missed the chance for his first goal for the club when his tame effort was held by Subasic.
Minutes later, Monaco found a consolation out of the blue through their first moment of individual attacking quality as Kylian Mbappe turned Kieran Trippier and found Stephan El Shaarawy for the on-loan AC Milan man to curl home a fine effort past Hugo Lloris from the edge of the box.
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The French side briefly threatened a late rally after scoring and Trippier had to be alert to block Mbappe's shot before Nabil Dirar headed wide from a good position from the resulting corner.
Subasic saved well with his feet from N'Jie and Elderson volleyed wide as both sides looked to add to their tally, but it was Spurs who found a fourth to kill the game off with 13 minutes left. Carroll showed great footwork to capitalise on poor defending and seal the win and ensure that the hosts finished as group winners.
Tom Nightingale
