Marseille 1-2 Tottenham: Lenglet and Hojbjerg send Spurs through

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Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg celebrates his winner
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Goals from Clement Lenglet and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg saw Tottenham come from behind to advance to the Champions League knockout stages with a 2-1 victory at Marseille on Tuesday.

Spurs knew a point in France would be enough to send them through, but Chancel Mbemba's powerful strike put them a goal down at half-time.

However, Lenglet nodded home from Ivan Perisic's set-piece shortly after the break before Hojbjerg smashed home in injury time to seal Spurs' place in the next round.

The victory means Spurs finish as Group D winners as they reach the knockout stages of the competition for the first time since 2019-20.

The hosts started well in front of their vociferous fans, Alexis Sanchez nearly giving them an early lead with a header that flew just past the post before Hugo Lloris punched away a fierce drive from the former Arsenal forward.

Largely pinned back by the hosts, Spurs were dealt another blow when Son Heung-min was forced off with a head injury, before Lloris was needed again to beat away a Jordan Veretout half-volley.

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Mbemba gave Marseille the advantage in first-half injury time with a towering header into the bottom left corner, giving Lloris no chance as Spurs' marking left a lot to be desired.

Spurs came out of the interval firing, and they were level in the 54th minute when Lenglet nodded Perisic's excellent free-kick delivery into the back of the net.

Amine Harit's long-range effort fizzed just over the crossbar as the French side pushed for a winner that would have sent them through, though Hojbjerg rattled the woodwork at the other end.

Sead Kolasinac missed a great opportunity when he headed wide late on, and Hojbjerg's powerful injury-time finish off the post as Spurs countered put his side through as group winners.

What does it mean? Spurs battle back from difficult first half

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Marseille were full value for their lead at the break. Buoyed by their loud home support, they had seven shots to Spurs' two in the first half as the English side held just 30.5 per cent of the possession in the opening 45 minutes.

Antonio Conte's side desperately needed to improve after the break, and they certainly did that with an impressive second-half spell that saw Lenglet equalise. They defended resolutely, before Hojbjerg won the game with his right-footed finish in the dying seconds.

Lenglet proves his worth at both ends

Lenglet's crucial header to level the game will get the headlines, but his defensive performance might have been just as impressive.

The former Barcelona centre-back finished with the joint-most tackles (four) and clearances (four) for his team, while also winning six of his eight duels.

Son's injury a big worry 

While Tottenham will be delighted with their hard-fought victory, it was not all positive news as star player Son was forced off with a head injury.

In obvious discomfort as he was helped off the field, the incident will spark fears over his World Cup availability for South Korea, with their opening match against Uruguay in just 23 days.

What's next?

Both teams are back in domestic action on Sunday, with Spurs hosting Liverpool while Marseille will play Lyon.

Tags

MarseilleTottenham HotspurChampions League

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