Dortmund 1 Tottenham 2: Harry Kane and Son Heung-min on target as Spurs recover from Arsenal misery
Mauricio Pochettino's side enjoy their European break despite falling a goal behind to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
DORTMUND must hate Heung-min Son.
The striker sealed Tottenham’s second half-comeback with a superb 76thminute finish.
And it was nothing the Germans had not seen before.
This was the South Korean’s eighth goal in his last ten appearances against Dortmund, dating back to his days in the Bundesliga with former club Bayer Leverkusen.
It ensured unbeaten Spurs are still at the top of their Champions League group with four wins and one draw from their campaign so far.
The strike also means someone at Tottenham other than Harry Kane can enjoying hogging the headlines this morning.
Up until then it looked as though the England striker would once again be the name on everybody’s lips after he showed that even half-fit he is still a force to be reckoned with.
Latest Tottenham news
Dortmund were on course for a shock win as they went in at half-time in front courtesy of a Pierre-Emerick Aubayemang strike.
But Kane, still recovering from the hamstring injury that ruled him out of the international break, got Tottenham back into this tie with an excellent goal four minutes into the second half.
His sixth goal in five Champions League clashes this term was also his 14th goal in 16 matches for Tottenham in all competitions and his 39th in 38 for his club in 2017 overall. Phew!
It shows how far he and Spurs have come since their last visit here - 20 months ago they left the Westfalestadion with their tails between their legs after being thumped 3-0.
It was a night when Pochettino rested a number of stars as he focused on trying to chase down Leicester in the Premier League title race.
Indeed only two players who finished that match – Hugo Lloris and Harry Kane – were in the Spurs starting XI last night as they fielded a far stronger line-up this time.
They also arrived with a sense of superiority having already qualified for the knockout stage and beaten Dortmund 3-1 at Wembley on the way.
Especially as the hosts had only won one of their previous eight – and that was against a third division side in the German cup.
Danny Rose, Serge Aurier, Harry Winks and Heung-min Son all returned as Pochettino made four changes following his team’s 2-0 defeat at Arsenal on Saturday.
You could see why good luck charm Son was selected.
He had the first chance of the night when he got away from the Dortmund defence only to see them get back and smother his shot, sending it out for a corner.
But Spurs allowed their opponents back into the game keeper Lloris had to get down well to save a 13th minute shot from Andriy Yarmolenko.
Aubayemang should have opened the scoring six minutes later when, with just Lloris to beat, he inexplicably skewed his shot wide.
But just when we were starting to think he should rename himself ‘Uber-Meringue’ he made Tottenham look like lemons with the opening goal.
The Spurs defence was once again caught square by another yummy Yarmolenko pass and this time the Gabon striker made no mistake as he fired past Lloris to make it 1-0.
It was his 16th goal of the season, but his first since the middle of October.
Mind you, he was lucky to stay on the field after he swiped Spurs defender Davinson Sanchez in an off-the-ball incident moments later.
Yet, he somehow escaped without so much as a booking, despite it being right under the nose of one of the fifth officials behind the goal-line.
This injustice inadvertently sparked Spurs into life as they finished the first half the stronger.
Christian Eriksen went close to levelling with a shot superbly blocked by Dortmund keeper Roman Burki, who then pulled off an even better save to keep out an Eric Dier header from a Harry Winks corner with Son unable to squeeze in the rebound.
So it was left to Kane to once again rescue his team with another deadly finish four minutes into the second half.
The Dortmund back four must have felt they had blocked all avenues to go, but like so many defences before them they were wrong.
As Kane collected Alli’s pass, following good work by Rose, turned and drilled a low shot beyond Burki.
And to think, some of us were wondering if he should have been rested after recent injury and sluggish display at the Emirates.
But it was Son who stole the headlines as he fired a winner into the top corner with 14 minutes of the match remaining after brilliant work out wide by Dele Alli.
STATS, FACTS, GOALS & LOLS
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang returned from suspension to net for the first time in six matches. He may be a naughty boy at times but Dortmund look half the team when he is not on song.
- Harry Kane has now scored six and set up two in Europe this season. Any lingering doubts about his ability are quickly evaporating.
- Real Madrid rattled in six in the group's other game to highlight how big an achievement Spurs taking four points from the defending champs was.
- Pochettino's side showed real composure after going a goal down away from home.
- Spurs' major issue seems to be themselves. While they have proved themselves to be able to compete with Europe's best, misfiring Arsenal were able to completely humiliate them at the weekend.
- Harry Winks has a huge future ahead for both club and country. The young playmaker has been thrown into some of the football's most intimidating atmospheres and performed.
- Dele Alli's two assists continued his brilliant form since arriving at Tottenham. He is the same age as Winks but has a wealth of extra experience.
- Son Heung-min still has a role to play at Spurs despite Kane, Alli and Eriksen earning rave reviews as a lethal front three.
SOCIAL SAYS
WHAT THEY SAID
Harry Kane told BT Sport: "It is massive, an unbelievable night for the fans and the club. Everyone was doubting us before the group even started that we would not even get through, so a fantastic night.
"It was a big goal, we knew if we could take one chance we would be right back in it. Delighted to see the goal go in and what a finish by Son Heung-min."
Hugo Lloris added: "We knew they are not in their best form but this is Dortmund, one of the biggest clubs in Germany and they wanted to show their fans they could bounce back after defeat at the weekend.
"We can enjoy our final game against Apoel because it is a big achievement.
"It was important to bounce back after the derby defeat and now it is important to refresh our minds because the next few league games will be very important."
DREAM TEAM RATINGS
Tottenham: Lloris 6, Aurier 6, Sanchez 6, Vertonghen 6, Rose 7, Dier 6, Winks 6, Eriksen 6, Dele 7, Son 8, Kane 7. Subs: Sissoko 6,Dembele 6, Llorente 5.