Flying high Triumphant Spurs and City wrap up group top spots
It was only 20 months ago that Tottenham Hotspur effectively gave up on Europe and left Dortmund as three-goal losers, but it was the Germans who bowed out of the Champions League on Tuesday night as Mauricio Pochettino’s men clinched top spot in Group H.
Goals from Harry Kane and Heung-min Son meant that Spurs will finish above Real Madrid in a group many people predicted would see them relegated to the Europa League once again.
“The season before, we were watching the draw and we thought ‘Oh Monaco, Leverkusen and CSKA’ and we thought we had a chance for the next stage,” said Pochettino.
“This draw, we looked and thought ‘OK we are going to compete’. And look now we are first, top of the table. Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Apoel was always difficult, but we tried to enjoy it and be competitive and try to win, that was the idea in every single game.”
Unbeaten in this season’s Champions League, this is a stronger Tottenham squad than we have seen for quite some time. One that can bounce straight back from a North London derby defeat by Arsenal and one that can fight back from falling behind in Dortmund.
It is also one that can cope with change, unlike when Pochettino rested most of his stars in the Europa League in 2016 and Dortmund took full advantage.
Pochettino rotated his full-backs, but his biggest changes last night were in midfield and in attack. The Tottenham manager moved Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen back to play in the centre of midfield with Harry Winks, and Son partnered Kane in a front two. The reshuffle proved to be a masterstroke, as Kane and Son cancelled out Dortmund bad boy Pierre-emerick Aubameyang’s opener, and both men were assisted by Alli.
“I am so happy about Dele, of course,” said Pochettino. “He can play behind the striker or like a number eight because he has the quality, talent and capacity to cope with different positions.”
Kane may not be much more than half fit, but he only needed half a chance to take a step closer to hitting his target of 50 goals for the calendar year.
The striker made it six goals in the Champions League this season by scoring Tottenham’s equaliser against Dortmund and took his tally for club and country in 2017 to 46.
“He’s a great striker, a great player,” said Pochettino. “This type of player like Harry, if you give some situations, they don’t need many opportunities to score. It’s fantastic for him to score.”
Son’s winner was his eighth career goal in 10 games against Dortmund, dating back to his time at Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg.
The big news in Dortmund had been the recall of Aubameyang, following his omission for disciplinary reasons. Having already set his team-mate up once and tested Hugo Lloris himself, Andriy Yarmolenko flicked the ball expertly into Aubameyang’s path in the 31st minute and the Gabon international made no mistake by driving the ball low beyond Hugo Lloris.
Eriksen tried to get Spus back on level terms quickly, but his tame effort from outside the penalty area was easily gathered by Roman Burki before the goalkeeper produced two brilliant saves to keep the hosts ahead. First, Burki prevented Eriksen from scoring after the Dane tried to finish off a lovely move he had started. And, from the corner, Eric Dier’s header looked to be heading in until Burki somehow palmed the ball out.
Alli’s best work during the opening 45 minutes had come inside his own penalty area, when he managed to get in the way of Raphael Guerreiro’s flicked header. But Alli was involved at the other end of the pitch at the start of the second half, as Tottenham got back on level terms. Danny Rose won possession and found Alli, who passed to Kane and the England international beat Burki with his shot.
Kane turned provider shortly afterwards with a back-heel into the path of Alli, who was off target with his right-foot effort. But the winner eventually came with 14 minutes remaining, as Alli got his second assist of the evening by laying the ball off for Son to score yet another goal against Dortmund.