Europa League: Hearts 0 Tottenham 5

Tottenham’s age into the group stages of the Europa League is all but assured after a 5-0 drubbing of Hearts in Edinburgh on Thursday.

Three goals in the first 30 minutes of the game from Rafael van der Vaart, Jermain Defoe and Jake Livermore, along with two more in the second half from Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon, stunned the home faithful at Tynecastle Stadium.

The opening goal came when a blotched clearance from Marius Zaliukas fell fortuitously for Van der Vaart, who slotted the ball home after just five minutes.

Harry Redknapp’s side doubled their lead eight minutes later, with Lennon breaking free and feeding Defoe, who made no mistake with a left-footed shot beyond Marian Kello.

Spurs continued to exert their dominance and Livermore was next to profit, the 21-year-old producing a collected finish on 28 minutes.

Hearts’ first-half chances were rare, and aside from a determined run from Ryan Stevenson their fans had little to cheer about.

But the hosts showed significant improvement after the interval, with Andrew Driver’s bustling run setting up Ryan Stevenson, whose flick almost found its way into goal.

A free-kick from Jamie Hammill then tested Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, but the mini-revival was short-lived as Tom Huddlestone’s long ball released Bale, who broke free onto the Hearts goal before tucking the ball in to add a fourth.

Spurs hammered home their advantage with a perfect example of counter-attacking football, before Lennon applied a simple finish to Defoe’s cross in the 78th minute.

The rout means that Harry Redknapp will have the luxury of resting players when the two meet in the return leg at White Hart Lane next Thursday.