Richy to the rescue
Brilliant Brazilian off the mark with late brace of headers
This time they counted. This time his shirt stayed on. This time there was no VAR intervention and Richarlison rescued Tottenham, his first goals for his new club enhancing the incredible impact he has made since his £60million move from Everton.
The Brazilian struck twice in the closing minutes, burying a pair of headers in front of the south stand to break the stubborn resistance of Marseille, who played for most of the second half with 10 men.
it was the same end where he thought he had scored on saturday to cap a brilliant display against Fulham, when he whipped off his shirt and picked up a yellow card as his effort was ruled out for offside.
This time there was no question about it. The goals were good and spurs rejoiced, overcome by relief. Antonio Conte’s team had been poor in the first half, and only seized control once Marseille centre back Chancel Mbemba was sent off, early in the second half, for taking out son heungmin when he was clean through.
Even then the visitors hung on, frustrating Tottenham until Richarlison climbed to head in a cross by ivan Perisic in the 76th minute. his second, five minutes later, was almost identical, heading in from Pierre-Emile hojbjerg’s cross.
‘ i’m very happy for Richy,’ beamed Conte. ‘he deserved to have a night like this. i remember when we signed him, he told me he couldn’t wait to hear the Champions League music and play in this competition.
‘Today i remembered these words and said to him, “i remember what you said, this is your chance, you deserved this, enjoy it and try to do your best”. he did his best, and he helped us get three points in a difficult game.’
indeed, for 45 minutes, Marseille dominated spurs, who were unable to establish any rhythm or intensity. They made mistakes on the ball and failed to counter with any of their usual menace.
They did not create a meaningful opportunity until five minutes before the interval, when Richarlison and son linked up to find harry Kane, who slid a low shot narrowly wide of the post.
Marseille, for all their superiority during the first half, did not open up Tottenham’s defence either. Tavares and Mbemba flashed shots wide from distance and a long-range effort by former Arsenal man Matteo Guendouzi hit Cristian Romero on the head and flew up in the air. hugo Lloris came out, opted to punch when he could have caught it and made a mess of it before his defenders tidied up.
These were the slim pickings on offer until another fine strike unleashed by Guendouzi but saved by Lloris in stoppage time at the end of the first half.
Groans rang around the stadium as the teams disappeared down the tunnel. spirits lifted, however, when Mbemba was sent off in the opening moments of the second half. Kane released son on halfway and he sprinted clear, too quick for Mbemba, who launched into an ill-judged slide tackle. son poked the ball on with his toe and was toppled by the clumsy challenge of the centre half just outside the area.
it was as clear as these things can be. slovenian referee slavko Vincic could not get his red card out of his pocket quickly enough. he dropped it, picked it up — aided by Tottenham’s Emerson Royal — and dismissed Mbemba. Eric Bailly received a yellow card for dissent as he bundled into Vincic. The home crowd roared their approval and Tottenham took their cue, taking a grip on the contest.
son dragged a good chance wide before Conte made his first change on the hour, replacing wing back Royal with winger Dejan Kulusevski, who was soon tearing forward in attack.
Marseille tried to waste time and spurs lost concentration when Amine harit almost converted a low cross by Kolasinac.
But Conte’s change made a difference. Kulusevski was influential and they piled on the pressure, refusing to give up until Richarlison’s breakthrough.
scuffles broke out between the two sets of fans in stoppage time, with Marseille supporters appearing to throw missiles into the home end and tear down a large Rainbow flag.
But after two years out of the Champions League, spurs are back with a win.
still not fluent and yet still unbeaten this season, and with Richarlison shaping up as a new cult hero as they prepare for Manchester City on saturday. l
ELsEwhERE in Group D, former spurs youngster Marcus Edwards opened the scoring as sporting Lisbon stunned Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 in Germany.