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Football

19th Mar 2021

Joe Hart apologises for Instagram post after Spurs Europa League humiliation

Simon Lloyd

“It obviously wasn’t me”

Tottenham’s Europa League elimination on Thursday night was – and let’s not sugarcoat it – a complete and utter shitshow.

Leading 2-0 from their home leg against Dinamo Zagreb, Spurs’ players turned in a toothless display against the Croatian side, who beat them 2-0 in 90 minutes to take the game to extra-time.

Then, having still looked desperately short of any sense of urgency, Spurs conceded the knockout blow as Mislav Oršić, scorer of Dinamo’s two earlier goals, completed his hat-trick to send the Croatian side through to the quarter finals.

Jose Mourinho, naturally, questioned the attitude of his players after the game; Hugo Lloris described it as a “disgrace”.

And Joe Hart? Well, he – or, to be more specific, whoever was responsible for running his social media accounts – seemed a little muddled by what had just unfolded.

A post to the backup goalkeeper’s Instagram Stories confirmed Spurs had indeed lost 3-0 (and 3-2 on aggregate) but, confusingly, contained the line ‘Job done,’ alongside a big green tick.

The job, quite clearly, had not been done from a Spurs’ perspective, and Hart’s post was swiftly shared across social media – adding that little bit more to an already humiliating situation.

The post has now been deleted, but only after lots and lots of people had seen it.

Because of this, Hart – definitely him, this time – posted to his Instagram Stories on Friday morning to apologise.

“I feel like I need to come on and make an apology on behalf of of my social media team,” he said.

“Someone thought that we’d won 3-0 last night and posted “job done”. As sloppy as it sounds, it’s the truth.”

“That’s unacceptable and I’m sure it’s annoyed a lot of people and I’m sorry it’s come to that. It’s obviously not come from me.

“I’ve got nothing but love for the club and support for the team and I’m just as down as the boys are.”

Spurs must now turn their attention to trying to secure a top four finish in the Premier League after missing out on Champions League qualification via winning the Europa League. They return to action away to Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.