Great goals and bad referees on show as Tottenham beats Dortmund, 3-1

Tottenham Hotspur has finally exercised its demons at Wembley Stadium, defeating Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday in its temporary home. BVB will feel like it was robbed by the referees, but a shaky defense certainly did it no favors either, as Spurs opened Champions League play with a 3-1 win.

Son Heung-Min opened the scoring, blazing past his defender on the left flank before blasting a shot past Roman Bürki at the near post just four minutes in. Harry Kane’s through ball to set up the chance was almost as good as the run and finish too.

Dortmund responded almost instantly through new signing Andriy Yarmolenko. Hugo Lloris had no chance to make a save on this perfectly curled strike from 20 yards that tied up the score at 1-1 in the 11th minute.

But Dortmund’s defense couldn’t hold up and broke down again in the 15th minute, in similar fashion to the first goal. This time it was taken apart by Kane, who bulldozed his way through two defenders before holding off a third and finishing from a similar spot as Son.

The match settled down after that, with Tottenham allowing Dortmund to keep possession and pressing much less aggressively than it usually does in Premier League play. BVB had some dangerous-looking moments but no more shots on target for the rest of the first half.

However, Dortmund should have been granted an equalizer in the 55th minute. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored off a free kick, but he was flagged for offside. He was clearly behind the Spurs line of defenders, and the linesperson presumably mistook Aubameyang for one of the players who started in an offside position.

Just five minutes later, Tottenham solidified its lead and ensured its win through Kane, who was the clear man of the match with two goals and an assist. Despite its poor defending, Dortmund had every right to feel aggrieved about the way the second half transpired.

But Tottenham got some bad news at the end of the game — Spurs will likely be without Jan Vertonghen for the next two Champions League matches. He was handed a red card for an elbow on Mario Götze, but his contact with the Dortmund midfielder looked soft and unintentional upon replay. Spurs can appeal, but UEFA tends to stick with officials’ calls on the field if they’re close at all.

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris; Vertonghen, Sanchez, Alderweireld; Davies, Dembele, Dier, Eriksen, Aurier; Son (Sissoko 83’), Kane (Llorente 87’)

Goals: Son (4’), Kane (15’, 60’)

Borussia Dortmund: Bürki; Piszczek, Sokratis, Toprak (Zagadou 80’), Toljan; Dahoud (Castro 72’), Sahin, Kagawa (Götze 66’); Pulisic, Aubameyang, Yarmolenko

Goals: Yarmolenko (11’)