Tottenham Hotspur 1 Slavia Prague 0 <i>(Tottenham win 2-0 on aggregate)</i>: Keane off the mark at last to send Spurs into group stages

At half-time Tottenham took the fate-tempting step of plugging the DVD from the last time they won the Uefa Cup, in 1984, and parading one of the players from that evening, Gary Mabbutt, to call for more "European evenings".

It was nearly a case of just the one European tie this season as it was not until the 80th minute that they scored the goal, Robbie Keane's first of the season, to add to their slender first-leg lead and progress to the competition's group stages.

"We probably didn't do it the way we would have liked," the stand-in captain admitted. Judging by the increasingly frayed - and fractious - nerves that preceded his goal, he had sensed the mood of the fans.

Indeed, they feared that Slavia Prague, in what was Spurs' 50th European tie at home, and their first since 1999, were in danger of becoming only the second visiting team, after Real Madrid, to win here. However, the closest they came in the end was two rasping drives from the impressive right-back Matej Krajcik.

Keane finished with aplomb. He latched on to Mido's chest-down, from Didier Zokora's flighted ball, swivelled and drove a low right-footed shot from about 18 yards into the corner.

Spurs almost got the early goal that their manager, Martin Jol, had said was a "must" to add to Jermaine Jenas' strike in Prague. It was from the midfielder's corner that Calum Davenport headed on butKeane was not sharp enough to reach it at the far post.

Then, on half-time, Danny Murphy broke down the right and sent in a low cross that reached Keane. Unmarked, he side-footed the ball far too casually into the goalkeeper's hands. It was maddening for Jol. "They made it difficult for us," he said of Slavia. "But we made it difficult for ourselves." It has been the story of his team's season although there is mitigation with an injury list Jol referred to as "the devil playing with us".

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): Robinson; Chimbonda, Dawson, Davenport, Young-Pyo Lee; Jenas, Zokora, Murphy (Ghaly, 71), Ziegler (Tainio, 62); Keane, Mido. Substitutes not used: Cerny (gk), Huddlestone, Ifil, Assou-Ekotto, C Lee.

Slavia Prague (4-4-1-1): Kozacik; Hubacek, Latka, Suchy, Krajcik; Svento, Hrdlicka (Kalivoda, 74), Svec, Janda (Vlcek, 63); Jarolim; Fort (Necid, 78). Substitutes not used: Divis (gk), Dosoudil, Gaucho, Aracic.

Referee: T Skjerven (Norway).