Tottenham came back from a goal down as they produced one of the narrow football results of the midweek action in the Champions League. At the Stade Velodrome, Spurs were outnumbered during a dismal first half in which they were unable to produce a touch inside their opponents’ penalty area. Chancel Mbemba, a former Newcastle defender, headed in a short corner that had been looped in by Jordan Veretout for Marseille to take the lead in stoppage time. With head coach Antonio Conte watching from the sidelines during a chaotic first half, Spurs lost forward Son Heung-min to a head injury. However, after Lenglet’s equaliser, they changed completely and took control of the game.
Hojbjerg hit the crossbar for the visitors, but Marseille had a chance to score late when Sead Kolasinac curiously failed to convert a header opportunity. The victory was subsequently sealed by Hojbjerg in stoppage time, moving Tottenham to the top of the division and dropping Marseille, who had earlier in the evening temporarily held the top spot, to fourth place and outside of Europe. Eintracht Frankfurt overcame Sporting CP after falling down to move from third to the second qualification slot on a nail-biting night of European football that saw the odds swing one way and then the other.
Tottenham played poorly for the opening 45 minutes and trailed in the last seconds of the first half. Immediately after Marseille took a corner, Mbemba had a clear header that he drove into the bottom corner. Spurs were doomed when they came back in the second half but soon turned the situation around, tying the score in the 54th minute. Ivan Perisic’s outstanding free kick, which was headed in by Lenglet, continued Spurs’ domination at set pieces. In the 80th minute, they thought they had a chance after a superb throw-in move involving Bentancur and Moura set up Hojbjerg, whose shot from 14 yards hit the crossbar. Later, Mbemba produced a fantastic last-ditch tackle to stop Kane from scoring as he was about to pull the trigger.
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