Tottenham Hotspur leveraged a strong second half to beat Marseille 1-2 and win Group D on a last-second goal from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Without Antonio Conte, fans had to hope Tottenham was drilled enough to execute the game plan. Through 45 minutes, it looked like that was the case. Despite a complete lack of possession, several Hugo Lloris saves kept Spurs level. However, an injury-time mistake left Tottenham in a hole that is becoming all too familiar. Fortunately, Spurs had the fortitude to keep fighting and steal all three points at the death.
First half to forget for Tottenham
Tottenham Hotspur came in with a game plan to make the game as short as possible. Drained from several comebacks in a row, Spurs were looking to defend well and attack Marseille on the counter-attack. Unfortunately, some bad luck hurt Tottenham’s attack.
Only 22 minutes into the game, Heung-min Son was going up to head the ball against Chancel Mbemba. As Son was looking up at the ball, so too was Mbemba, who jumped in front of the South Korean, who simultaneously went to head the ball.
The result was Son’s face heading Mbemba’s shoulder, which laid Sonny onto the turf. After several minutes, Son was gingerly helped off the field, and then Yves Bissouma came on to replace him. We do not want to speculate on Son’s injury, but it did not look good.
After losing their best home run threat, Spurs hunkered down defensively, looking to survive with a draw. Two minutes into injury time, Ryan Sessegnon escorted a ball out of bounds, only for the referee to whistle for a corner kick.
Several Spurs complained, and a few worked their way back on defense, but not enough got settled, and Mbemba hammered home a header on the subsequent corner kick. Not one Tottenham player even jumped with Mbemba as Marseille took the lead, and Spurs were heading to Europa League.
Fortunately, Tottenham again showed resolve and fought back to do more than draw in the second half.
Continued…
Tottenham’s second-half surge
It is hard to say what was said at half-time to Tottenham, but whatever transpired in the locker room, a different team emerged to start the second half. Although there was only one player change, Emerson Royal came on for Sessegnon; the team was drastically different, looking to press and pressure and even attack.
Over the first 10 minutes of the second half, Tottenham dominated possession, and eventually, Harry Kane won a free kick in the attacking half. On the subsequent free-kick, Ivan Perisic played a perfect ball into the penalty area, which Clement Lenglet headed home to equalize the game and push Tottenham through to the knockout round.
As results were changing in the Sporting vs. Frankfurt game, it seemed like Marseille was now going to Europa League while Tottenham would advance. This did not suit the French side, as they pushed hard to find a winner.
As Marseille pushed more and more, gaps started appearing more and more in their defense. Hojbjerg hit the crossbar after some excellent passing, and a last-ditch tackle from Mbemba denied Kane a chance, although replays showed it probably was a foul.
Marseille did not heed the late warnings, and they paid for it in the end. As the clock ticked to less than 30 seconds left, Marseille pushed up the right flank, but Lenglet stuck his foot in and knocked the ball away and forward toward Kane. The closest Marseille defender was their coach, who was 3-4 yards onto the field and knew what was coming.
Kane turned to face and then played Hojbjerg into space in front of him. Hojbjerg dribbled to a spot that felt right and unleashed a thunderbolt that hit the good side of the post and went in for the 2-1 Tottenham lead. It was the last kick of the game, as Spurs did not even kick-off, and the game was over.
Marseille’s push for advancement cost them Europe altogether, as they finished fourth in the group and fell completely out of continental competition. Conversely, Tottenham won the group and advanced to the final 16, set to be played in the new year following the World Cup. It was a fantastic finish and a great team effort in the second half, which was enough to win the day and the group.