15  Jeremy TOLJAN     
  2  Dan-Axel ZAGADOU  (36  Omer TOPRAK  78)
  5  Marc BARTRA
29  Marcel SCHMELZER  (c)     

  9  Andriy YARMOLENKO
10  Mario GOTZE
23  Shinji KAGAWA  (27  Gonzalo CASTRO  66)
33  Julain WEIGL

13  Raphael GUERRIERO

17  Pierre-Emerick AUBAMEYANG 

Unused subs: 
  8  Nuri SAHIN
19  Mamhoud DAHOUD
20  Maximilian PHILIPP
21  Andre SCHURRLE
 

24  Serge AURIER
29  Harry WINKS
20  DELE Alli  (19  Mousa DEMBELE  81)
23  Christian ERIKSEN  (17  Moussa SISSOKO  85)
  3  Danny ROSE

10  Harry KANE    (18  Fernando LLORENTE  86)
  7  Heung-Min SON 

Unused subs: 
13  Michel VORM
  2  Kieran TRIPPIER
33  Ben DAVIES
21  Juan FOYTH
 

Despite going a goal behind, Spurs put in a really good game, which improved as it went on, to win the match and in the process, win the group with one game left to play.  The team unit functioned very well tonight and individuals might not have been quite at the top of their game, but still made important contributions to the 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund.

Alli played an early ball in the second minute for Son to run onto but Zagadou blocked his shot for a corner, which Spurs managed to mess up and Dortmund could clear it easily. A similar long ball saw Rose win it in the air and pick up the loose ball to win another corner. Winks played it in and it flew through the six yard box with no Spurs man taking a chance to get on the end of it.

Dortmund began playing the ball around slickly, but Spurs were also finding space to pick out passes, although neither side was hurting the other at this stage of the game. The twelfth minute saw the first shot on target, as the home team worked the ball on the edge of the box, ending with Yarmolenko hitting a weak shot straight at Lloris, who fielded the ball easily. The Ukrainian did better when he chipped the ball over the Spurs defence for Aubameyang, but he poked it past Lloris, but the keeper had rushed out and forced the Gabon striker to miss.

Aurier nearly picked out a cross to Kane, but Zagadou slid in to intercept, then Kane opened up the pitch with a ball out to the right for Aurier to come in and drive a low ball in, but Son was too far ahead of the near post to do much with it. Serge was soon back defending with a good sliding tackle that gave away a corner, which had to be headed out from in front of goal after it had been flicked on at the near post. Aurier was having a good game and one early cross caused a defender to chest the ball behind. When the corner came back in, Vertonghen picked out Son in the box, but he couldn’t get a good contact on it and then he was offside when Spurs recovered the ball and played it forward for him.

Dortmund worked the ball through the Spurs half, with Yarmolenko dragging the ball behind him to put Aubameyang in on goal and from the right of centre, he slipped it past Lloris to the keeper’s right from eight yards out. It was a well worked goal, but Tottenham played their way back into the game forcing a couple of corners but couldn’t make anything from them. There was a moment when Dier slid in on Aubameyang in the box to stop him getting a shot away and as Sanchez ran past the Dortmund man, he caught a swing of the scorer’s hand on the back of his head. You can’t help but think that if it had been Dele, there would have been a different outcome other than just a free-kick.

Eriksen tried a shot after a run in from the right, but he dragged it and there was no power in it, he was a bit more unlucky when Rose picked out Christian in the centre of the area and his shot was straight at Burki. Alli tried to head the rebound in, but it dropped for Kane, whose shot was blocked. From the corner, Dier met it with his head and the keeper made a good stretch to palm the ball out with what look like boxing gloves, just wide enough for Kane and Son not to be able to turn it in.

So, at half time, Spurs were a goal behind, but had a few chances to show that the home team might be fragile if we could break through.  And Spurs started sharply in the second half, with Rose winning the ball off Toljan and passing to Dele. He squared it to Kane on the edge of the box, who turned Bartra, then squared up Zagadou before drilling a low shot past Burki’s right hand to level the score, just a couple of minutes into the second half.

Rose was back in defensive action to cut out a dangerous ball from Weigl, but it was at the other end that he was next involved, running over the ball for Eriksen to swing in a free-kick which pole-axed the Ukrainian Yarmolenko. A long pass forward was chased by Dele and he just stopped it going out for a goal kick, conceding a throw in but it looked like he was running in treacle. Maybe being rushed back for the Arsenal game had taken more out of him than Poch might have thought.

Harry then paid it into the path of Dele for a shot that he dragged wide left of the Dortmund goal. Dele then gave away a free kick that Guerreiro put into the box and Dier did very well to nod the ball out under pressure. Spurs were looking forward and Eriksen almost picked out Kane, but Bartra beat him to it before passing straight to Dele. He ran at the box and tried to slip the ball into Son, but he was offside.

In trying to play the ball out of defence, Dortmund were conceding possession. A great passing move put Rose in on the right but his final ball in towards Son didn’t allow him to have a shot. But Danny won a corner off Gotze shortly after and when it came in, the ball was taken by Burki and Gotze then lost the ball, won the ball and then lost it again, as the play got a little bit messy.  But Tottenham were in the ascendancy, so when Dele tormented Gotze and Bartra, then ran away from the latter, after a fortuitous bounce, he pulled the ball back to Son fifteen yards out.  H took aim and shot into the top of the net out of Burki’s reach to put Tottenham ahead. Having taken one touch, he put the ball into the keeper’s top left hand corner. It wasn’t an easy finish, but Sonny made it look easy and Dele did well to use his body to get it between Bartra and the ball to stop the Spaniard having the opportunity to try and tackle him in the box.  With fifteen minutes left, it was a  good time for Spurs to score.

It was nearly three when Tottenham broke and Son played the ball left to Rose and he stood up a cross to the far post, where Eriksen came in to win an untypical header, but put it a couple of feet wide, when he should have at least tested the keeper.

Yarmolenko got Aubameyang in on the right wing and his cross was looking for Castro at the far post, but Eric Dier intercepted it and coolly cleared the ball. Guerreiro had a good chance when Aurier got under a long cross from their right but the volley was sliced horribly wide. After Dier had blocked a shot from Aubameyang, Son played a ball through to Llorente to run onto. He had run thirty yards and then took a heavy touch that took the ball through to Burki, who then had to be stretchered off, although it is hard to see what Fernando had done to result in this.

A late break on the left saw Spurs take on Dortmund at will and Toljan crudely blocked Rose for a yellow card. The free-kick allowed them to play out the remaining last few moments in the corner at the Dortmund end to seal a win that showed another example of their progression from two years ago and how they have adapted to Champions League football. Spurs fans sang out as the home sections emptied quickly and quietly. The way Spurs came out and bossed the second half showed how mature they can perform now. Dortmund’s players looked like a group lacking confidence, even though they took the lead, but the early goal in the second half broke any spirit there might have been in the German team.

Spurs played a controlled game, without getting flustered when they went a goal behind, handing Pochettinohis 100th win  in charge of Spurs in 184 matches.  He will be happy with the performance and the result it has achieved, but will be looking beyond the APOEL match to the knock-out stages, but in between he can concentrate on the Premier League.

Keith Mandemant