Tottenham’s Harry Kane moves past Tofiq Bahramov.Tottenham’s Harry Kane moves past Tofiq Bahramov.

Tottenham Hotspur’s in-form striker Harry Kane secured a 1-0 win at Qarabag and a place in the Europa League last 32 yesterday although last season’s beaten finalists Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk suffered an early exit.

Kane struck in the 78th minute for his ninth goal in his last six games to ensure the Premier League club joined eight other sides in reaching the knockout rounds of Europe’s second-tier competition from yesterday’s early games.

Liverpool, FK Krasnodar, Lazio, St Etienne, Basel, Schalke 04, Sparta Prague, Braga and Athletic Bilbao also booked spots in the next stage with one game to spare on the marathon route to May’s final.

Dnipro made a surprise run to the final last term but their European adventure ended early this time when a 3-1 defeat at Lazio meant they could not finish in the top two in Group G.

Kane suffered a drought when he went eight games without a club goal at the start of the season, but questions about whether the 22-year-old could continue last term’s prolific scoring run have long-since been silenced.

After Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min and Dele Alli earlier hit the woodwork, England international Kane thumped home a header from a corner to move them to 10 points at the top of Group J.

Liverpool continued their resurgence under new manager Jurgen Klopp as they came from a goal down to overcome Bordeaux at Anfield to assure themselves of a top-two finish in Group B.

Henry Saivet gave the French side a shock lead on 33 minutes but the hosts fought back before the interval with James Milner leveling matters from the penalty spot before Christian Benteke made it 2-1.

Schalke had needed to win against APOEL Nicosia to guarantee a spot in the next round but had to wait until the 86th minute for Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to snatch a 1-0 victory.

Having ended a seven-match winless run in all competitions, Schalke stayed top of Group K, ahead of Sparta Prague who also reached the knockout phase with a 1-0 win over Asteras Tripolis.

The group stage’s most prolific marksman, Athletic Bilbao’s Aritz Aduriz, scored twice in the final seven minutes to secure a 3-2 comeback win in Augsburg that kept the Spaniards top of Group L and moved them safely into the next round.

Bilbao flourish

Bilbao have flourished with Aduriz scoring six goals in five group games, while Augsburg and Partizan Belgrade meet on the final matchday to decide who joins the Spaniards in the last 32.

Basel reached the knockout stage as Group I winners after they came back from 2-0 down against Fiorentina, managed by the Swiss side’s former boss Paulo Sousa, to draw 2-2.

The Italians, who took a stranglehold with a double from Federico Bernardeschi, had to play for more than an hour with 10 men after Facundo Roncaglia was shown a first-half red card.

Sousa’s Fiorentina now need at least a draw in the final match against Belenenses to make it out of the group stage.

Borussia Dortmund, who lost 1-0 at FK Krasnodar yesterday, Molde, Napoli and Rapid Vienna had already secured their places in the knockout stage on the previous matchday.

Results and standings

Group A
Celtic vs Ajax - 1-2
Molde vs Fenerbahce - 0-2

Standings: Molde 10; Fenerbahce 8; Ajax 6; Celtic 2.

Group B
Rubin Kazan vs Sion - 2-0
Liverpool vs Bordeaux - 2-1

Standings: Liverpool 9; Sion 8; Rubin Kazan 5; Bordeaux 3.

Group C
FC Krasnodar vs B. Dortmund - 1-0
PAOK vs FK Qabala - 0-0

Standings: FC Krasnodar, Borussia Dortmund 10; PAOK 4; FK Qabala 2.

Group D
Club Brugge vs Napoli - 0-1
L. Warsaw vs FC Midtjylland - 1-0

Standings: Napoli 15; FC Midtjylland 6;  Club Brugge, Legia Warsaw 4.

Group E
Dinamo Minsk vs V. Plzen - 1-0
Villarreal vs Rapid Vienna - 1-0

Standings: Villarreal, Rapid Vienna 12; V. Plzen, Dinamo Minsk 3.

Group F
Braga vs Liberec - 2-1
Marseille vs FC Groningen - 2-1

Standings: Braga 12; Marseille 9; Slovan Liberec 7; FC Groningen 1.

Group G
Lazio vs Dnipro - 3-1
Rosenborg vs St-Etienne - 1-1

Standings: Lazio 13; Saint-Etienne 8; Dnipro 4; Rosenborg 2.

Group H
Besiktas vs Skenderbeu - 2-0
Lok. Moscow vs S. Lisbon - 2-4

Standings: Besiktas 9; Lok. Moscow 8; S. Lisbon 7; Skenderbeu 3.

Group I
Basel vs Fiorentina - 2-2
Belenenses vs Lech Poznan - 0-0

Standings: Basel 10; Fiorentina 7; Lech Poznan, Belenenses 5.

Group J
Monaco vs Anderlecht - 0-2
Qarabag FK vs Tottenham - 0-1

Standings: Tottenham 10; Anderlecht 7; Monaco 6; Qarabag FK 4.

Group K
Schalke vs APOEL Nicosia - 1-0
Sparta Prague vs A. Tripolis - 1-0

Standings: Schalke 11; Sparta Prague 9; Asteras 4; APOEL 3.

Group L
AZ Alkmaar vs Partizan - 1-2
Augsburg vs Athletic Bilbao - 2-3

Standings: A. Bilbao 12; Partizan 9; Augsburg 6; AZ Alkmaar 3.

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