Benjamin Stambouli scored the only goal of the game as Tottenham Hotspur saw off Partizan 1-0 to book their place in the last 32 of the Europa League.
© Getty Images
The hosts made a strong start to the opening minutes of the contest, which culminated in striker Roberto Soldado getting a shot away after being picked out by Erik Lamela, but his effort was dragged wide in the end.
Partizan stepped up a gear as the half wore on and created a few decent openings of their own, the first of which fell the way of Sasa Markovic, who volleyed narrowly wide of the target.
Markovic came even closer shortly after, this time forcing Spurs captain Hugo Lloris into making a save, while Petar Skuletic made the most of Vlad Chiriches's hesitation at the back to collect the ball close to goal on the half-hour mark, only for Lloris to force him wide.
The game was then halted for around 10 minutes after a supporter ran onto the field, the third of the evening, which led to the referee leading the two teams off the field.
Following the restart any momentum seemed to have left the game, with the sides going in goalless at the break.
© Getty Images
It took just five minutes of the second half for the North London outfit to edge ahead courtesy of Stambouli, who reacted quickest to tap home Soldado's initial strike, which came back off the post.
Lamela came close to extending Spurs' advantage with a powerful shot which flew over the crossbar, while Stambouli failed to make the most of his chance when being played into a good position, instead looking to pick out Lamela which proved to be the wrong choice.
Partizan continued to search for a goal, coming closest when Vladmir Volkov forced another big save out of Lloris, but in the end it was Tottenham who were aggrieved not to have added the game's second when substitute Harry Kane found the net, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.
The win leaves Mauricio Pochettino's charges top of the standings, while the Black and Whites still have just one point to their name.
Daniel Lewis
