The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Spurs battle back to advance
Mourinho’s men respond with four-goal burst
TOTTENHAM 4 OLYMPIACOS 2
Tottenham booked their place in the Champions League knockout stage for a third successive year with a brilliant 4-2 comeback win in Jose Mourinho’s first home game in charge.
It had looked like the Greek side were about to ruin Mourinho’s big night as they capitalised on a truly woeful opening 30 minutes by Spurs to lead 2-0 after 20 minutes thanks to goals from Youssef El Arabi and Ruben Semedo.
Dele Alli’s reply just before the break proved pivotal as it gave Mourinho’s men a base to produce a fine secondthe half blitz, with Harry Kane grabbing a brace and Serge Aurier capping a fine performance with the goal of the night.
Kane’s double sent him into the record books as he is now the fastest player to 20 Champions League goals, only needing 24 games.
The victory, a second in two games for Mourinho, means that Spurs can go to Bayern Munich – 6-0 winners against RedStar Belgrade last night – in a fortnight with their place in the last 16 already secured, though they are unable to top Group B even if they win in Germany.
But the manner of their early performance could have the alarm bells ringing for the new boss, who saw his side produce a display that had all hallmarks of the end of Mauricio Pochettino’s reign.
Kane told BT Sport 2: “We didn’t come out with any energy at all really and they got the goal, put us under some pressure, got the second, and it’s an uphill battle from there.
“But Dele’s done great to get that goal before half-time and change the momentum and second half we came out (on the) front foot and got the goals we needed, and obviously it feels good to have qualified.”
MANCHESTER CITY 1 SHAKHTAR DONETSK 1
City played out a tame 1-1 draw to claim their place in the knockout stage for a seventh consecutive season.
Ilkay Gundogan’s second-half strike was cancelled out by Manor Solomon as City failed to spark at the Etihad Stadium but, with Dinamo Zagreb losing to Atalanta, the result was enough to secure top spot in Group C.
There was little else to excite amid a flat atmosphere but Shakhtar’s performance kept their hopes of joining City in the last 16 very much alive.
As usual, City enjoyed a lot of possession but they lacked their usual potency while Shakhtar were not cowed by their failure to make much of an impression in their previous games against their hosts.
The Ukrainians, paired with City for a third consecutive year, were beaten 3-0 by Pep Guardiola’s men in September and thrashed 6-0 on their last visit to the Etihad Stadium a year ago.
● Paris St-Germain fought back with two late goals to earn a dramatic 2-2 draw at Real Madrid in Group A.
PSG had seen a first-half penalty and red card for home goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois overturned on VAR review.
Karim Benzema scored in each half to put Real in control but Kylian Mbappe scored for the unbeaten visitors after a defensive mix-up and Pablo Sarabia fired in a brilliant equaliser.