After a tense conclusion on Tuesday, Tottenham Hotspur won Group D and advanced to the Champions League round of 16 with an improbable 2-1 victory against Olympique de Marseille.
The Londoners, who needed only a draw to advance, were under attack in the first half and fell behind on Chancel Mbemba’s header in injury time.
When he scored his first goal for the team in the 54th minute to tie the game, French centre defence Clement Lenglet emerged as Tottenham’s saviour.
After a tumultuous first half in which Spurs lost forward Son Heung-min to a head injury, they were a different team after the break and assumed control following Lenglet’s equaliser.
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For the visitors, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg hit the crossbar, but Marseille could have scored late when Sead Kolasinac mysteriously missed an opportunity to score with a header.
Then, in stoppage time, Hojbjerg clinched the victory to put Tottenham on top of the group and drop Marseille, who had briefly held the top spot, to fourth place and outside of Europe.
In the first 45 minutes, Spurs were disoriented and confused by Marseille’s unrelenting assault, and the outcome scarcely seemed feasible.
