Spurs come from behind to clinch top spot
Tottenham bounced back from their north London derby defeat to Arsenal with a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday evening.
The hosts took a deserved first-half lead thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but Spurs hit back quickly after the restart through Harry Kane. Substitute Heung-Min Son’s fine late strike secured all three points for the visitors, as well as first place in Group H.
A relatively quiet opening 15 minutes saw patient build-up play from both sides, but no chances of note.
Dortmund should have been ahead on 19 minutes after Andriy Yarmolenko dinked a lovely ball over the Spurs defence to Aubameyang. He only had Hugo Lloris to beat but, he somehow scuffed his shot wide.
They did open the scoring on the half-hour mark thanks to a very well-worked team goal. The ball was played to the edge of the box where Yarmolenko beautiful flicked in behind the Spurs defence for Aubameyang. This time, the striker kept his composure to calmly slotted past Lloris.
Tottenham responded well and twice came close to an equaliser before the break. On 40 minutes, Christian Eriksen was denied by the quick hands of Roman Burki and moments later, the Dortmund keeper clawed away a goal-bound header from Eric Dier.
Four minutes after the restart, Spurs drew level. Dele Alli stole the ball away from Jeremy Toljan on the left flank and quickly found Kane on the edge of the box. After a fortunate first touch, he fired a snapshot towards goal that beat Burki at his near post.
And they moved ahead late on thanks to substitute Son. Alli was involved again as he powered past Marc Bartra on the left flank and cut back for Son, who took a touch before effortlessly curling into the top corner.
Dortmund pushed for an equaliser but in doing so left plenty of space for Spurs to break into. Another substitute, Fernando Llorente had the final opportunity of the match after he was played in behind, but his poor first touch allowed Burki to rush off his line and smother the ball.
With the victory, Tottenham secured first place in Group H as they can no longer be caught be Real Madrid. As for Dortmund, they can no longer qualify for the round of 16.