A 43rd-minute penalty from Dominic Solanke sent Tottenham through to the Europa League semi-finals with a 2-1 aggregate win over Eintracht Frankfurt to keep their season alive and ease the pressure on Ange Postecoglou.
Spurs were back in the last-chance saloon and up against it at Deutsche Bank Park after a 1-1 draw in the first leg last Thursday, but produced one of their best displays under Postecoglou to ensure his tenure goes on.
Solanke's spot-kick two minutes before half-time settled the tie and was won after vice-captains Cristian Romero and James Maddison combined.
It was Solanke’s first goal in 12 matches and even though Tottenham missed opportunities after the break, they admirably held on to earn a first last-four spot in this competition in 41 years.
Postecoglou had admitted to having "no idea" if he would still be in a job after this tie on Wednesday, but can now focus on a two-legged semi-final in May with his team still on course to win the club its first trophy in 17 years.
With captain Son Heung-min ruled out, Bayern Munich loanee Mathys Tel got the nod back in Germany and while Tottenham were warned they would walk into the lion's den at Deutsche Bank Park, they navigated the opening stages and the hosts lost Mario Gotze to injury after 17 minutes.
Hugo Ekitike had caused Spurs one moment of concern by this point only for Micky van de Ven to crucially slide in and yet another French forward started to make an impact.
Tel scuffed wide from a Brennan Johnson cutback in the 20th-minute before six minutes later he let fly from 25-yards and forced Kaua Santos into a flying save.
Guglielmo Vicario had held a simple header from Frankfurt substitute Fares Chaibi moments before, but had largely been untroubled when Tottenham won a penalty at the end of the first half.
Romero played his part with a brilliant ball over the top for Maddison, who tried to head over Kaua and got taken out by the Frankfurt goalkeeper.
As both players got treatment, referee Massa was sent to the VAR monitor and pointed to the spot much to the fury of the stunned home supporters.
Tel initially had the ball, but gave it to Solanke at the last moment and the £65m forward ended his 12-game drought with a clever chipped penalty before the Spurs players celebrated in front of Frankfurt’s noisy standing section.
Maddison had to be replaced soon after by Dejan Kulusevski, but Tottenham survived six minutes of stoppage time before they came under siege at the start of the second period.
Substitute Chaibi curled a free-kick wide from 35 yards before an Ekitike shot on the turn was blocked by Lucas Bergvall.
Frankfurt boss Dino Toppmoller had seen enough though and sent on Can Uzun in the 58th minute before Spurs went close again.
Johnson combined with Kulusevski, who had a shot deflected wide before Romero headed inches wide from Pedro Porro’s resulting corner.
Tottenham continued to perfectly combine defence with attack in a way which had not been seen enough this season with a Tel effort curled over followed by a Rodrigo Bentancur header off target.
Frankfurt had penalty appeals waved away soon after as Romero got the ball during a coming together with Ekitike before Vicario was called into action.
Rasmus Kristensen got in behind the Spurs defence and picked out Chaibi, but Vicario made a superb point-blank save and the follow-up cross was headed wide by Kristensen.
As the seconds ticked away Frankfurt upped the ante and Kristensen sent another effort off target with eight minutes left before Postecoglou introduced Kevin Danso as the visitors went to three at the back.
It was backs-to-the-wall now for Tottenham, but they stood firm to survive six minutes of stoppage time and delight their 2,800 travelling fans with big full-time celebrations as the club secured only its second European semi-final since they won the UEFA Cup in 1984.
Rangers' Europa League journey ended at the quarter-final stage following a 2-0 defeat by Athletic Bilbao in the San Mames stadium, with the victors set to play Manchester United in the semi-finals.
Barry Ferguson’s side had battled hard last week to keep the first leg goalless after the early dismissal of defender Robin Propper and were stretched again in the first half before defender John Souttar conceded a penalty in added time which Oihan Sancet converted.
It was a devastating blow for the Ibrox side who lost defender Ridvan Yilmaz and Leon Balogun to injury during the game but they came into the match more after the break and midfielder Nicolas Raskin hit the post but a header from Spain winger Nico Williams with 10 minutes remaining sealed the Gers’ fate in a 2-0 aggregate defeat.
The need for a solid start for Rangers, was obvious.
The Light Blues had conceded the first two goals in seven of their last 10 games – six in nine under Ferguson who was installed as boss until the end of the season when Philippe Clement departed in February
After a bright opening few minutes Athletic flexed.
Yilmaz, playing right wing-back, had to block a close-range shot from midfielder Sancet in the eighth minute before keeper Liam Kelly made a great save from Williams with another Sancet shot blocked, this time by skipper James Tavernier.
Injured Yilmaz then had to be replaced by midfielder Connor Barron and Ferguson reshuffled, Tavernier going to wing-back and Jefte moving into the back three with Mohamed Diomande at left wing-back.
It was all about defending for Rangers and it was desperate at times, with Balogun booked by referee Irfan Peljto for a foul on striker Maroan Sannadi, the official earlier ignoring Gers striker Cyriel Dessers’ claim for a penalty when Yeray Alvarez pulled at his shirt.
In the 36th minute Athletic attacker Alex Berenguer came close with a curling shot from 20 yards before Williams missed a sitter from eight yards after a cut-back from Sannadi.
Sancet then lofted a shot high over the bar with only Kelly to beat, and the Govan side escaped again – only for Souttar to concede penalty for a challenge on Sannadi and Sancet (above) sent Kelly the wrong way.
Centre-back Clinton Nsiala replaced Ianis Hagi and Jefte moved back to left wing-back with Diomande returning to midfield and within seconds of the restart Balogun went down inside the Rangers box after clashing heads with Souttar and had to be replaced by striker Hamza Igamane.
The visitors went to a back four, adding to the sense of disruption.
However, after 58 minutes Raskin struck the post from around eight yards as the home defence was breached and the game became stretched.
The tension increased as the second half continued and a delicious chip from Ibrox winger Vaclav Cerny almost found Dessers at the back post, while at the other end, Berenguer’s shot was deflected for a corner which was defended with determination.
However, moments later Williams got in behind Tavernier and headed an inviting cross from Oscar de Marcos high past Kelly to send Rangers out of the competition.
Nikita Haikin made the vital save as Bodo/Glimt pulled off a stunning penalty shootout win away to Lazio to become the first Norwegian team to reach the semi-finals of the Europa League, where they will face Tottenham.
Lazio took the lead in the 21st minute through Taty Castellanos but it took until second-half stoppage time for Tijani Noslin to squeeze in their second goal to make it 2-2 on aggregate and send the tie to extra time, with Boulaye Dia heading home to put his side 3-2 up on aggregate 10 minutes into the first period.
Stunningly, Bodo substitute Andreas Helmersen headed a goal of his own to make it 3-3 on the night in the 109th minute, but he was then sent off for a second yellow in the dying minutes as the tie headed to penalties after a nerve-jangling encounter.
Bodo/Glimt's Patrick Berg could have won it with his fifth kick but blasted the ball over the bar and Haikin became the hero when he saved Castellanos's effort to make it 3-2 in the shootout and send his side into the last four.
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
