Tottenham Hotspur have qualified for the last 32 of the Europa League with a 3-1 win over Panathinaikos at White Hart Lane.

Despite seeing Emmaneuel Adebayor's opener cancelled out by Zeca, the hosts rallied to claim the three points.

Both teams showed attacking intent from the first whistle and it was the visitors who nearly took the lead in the 20th minute when Toche saw his effort saved by Brad Friedel following Giourkas Seitaridis's free kick.

Spurs went ahead nine minutes later as Adebayor calmly slotted in after Clint Dempsey's through ball.

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Sandro tried his luck from long distance soon after, but the midfielder saw his drive fly off target.

Spurs came within inches of doubling their advantage at the start of the second half when Jermain Defoe's came back off the post.

However, Panathinaikos drew themselves level with 54 minutes played thanks to Zeca's back-post header from Nikos Spyropoulos's cross.

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The Greeks then enjoyed the better share of possession and almost went ahead with 20 minutes left to play as Toche poked the ball narrowly wide following some indecision in the Spurs box.

White Hart Lane breathed a collective sigh of relief in the 80th minute when Dempsey's header came back off the bar before going in via Orestis Karnezis.

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The win was sealed with seven minutes remaining through Defoe's cheeky dink over the onrushing Karnezis.