On Wednesday evening (AEDT), Tottenham advanced through the Champions League the hard way. After a 1-0 halftime deficit against Marseille, Tottenham was slated to exit the competition while manager Antonio Conte served a suspension in the stands. Tottenham did not have a touch in Marseille's penalty area during the first half. With a goal at the Stade Velodrome that sealed a 2-1 win for Tottenham and lifted them to the top of Group D, Tottenham finished above Eintracht Frankfurt, which had already won by a margin of 2-1 at Sporting and was sitting in the first place. As a result of this goal, Marseille finished last and will not be competing in European competitions in 2019.

Champions League highlights:

For the first time in the history of Marseille, it was necessary to win in order to reach the knockout stage. Marseille dominated the first half, keeping the visitors in their own half and eventually taking the lead when Chancel Mbemba headed in unmarked after a quick corner in stoppage time. After a dazed-looking Son was assisted off the field after receiving a shoulder to his face from Mbemba, Tottenham's players barely strung any passes together in the first half — defender Clement Lenglet later acknowledged he and his teammates were confused about how to approach the match. It appeared that the forward, who is set to play for South Korea at the upcoming World Cup, was unsteady on his feet.

Lenglet scored an equalizer in the 54th minute by glancing at Ivan Perisic's left-wing free-kick to start the second half with a purpose. It was Marseille's turn to bear the brunt of the pressure. At the other end, Alexis Sanchez's goalbound shot was deflected wide by Perisic, in a tense final 15 minutes. There were four players on Marseille's team who had previously played for Tottenham's fierce rival, Arsenal, and one of them, Sead Kolasinac, entered as a substitute and had a golden opportunity in the 87th minute to put the hosts in front. Kolasinac headed wide from barely two meters away after receiving a cross to the far post.

Igor Tudor, Marseille's animated coach, was irritated by Marseille's players' aggressive pursuit of a goal. In order to convey the message that a draw would actually have been fine - and would have secured third place and a spot in the Europa League's qualifying playoffs - he strayed onto the field of play. Tudor noted that the players were unable to hear it because of its loud volume, causing confusion at the end. Unfortunately, it cost us dearly.” Indeed, Tudor was on the playing surface at the point when Tottenham broke forward in the fifth minute of stoppage time to score the winning goal with a shot off the post. In light of his red card against Sporting last week, Conte watched the game from the stands. He remained mostly unmoved until the late goal, which prompted Conte to celebrate enthusiastically.

Spurs reached the Champions League final in 2019 thanks to a late equalizer by Lucas Moura against Barcelona at Camp Nou in the final round of games. Tottenham has also been unable to get off to a fast start in this year's group stage. The team is still through, completing a clean sweep of English teams in the last 16. Cristian Stellini, who was filling in for Conte on the touchline, said that “the first half of the match was very difficult.” “In spite of the difficulties, we did not lose our heads; we remained focused.”
By Rashmi Goel