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regular-article-logo Saturday, 04 May 2024

Spurs ride last-gasp winner to advance

At half-time in the final round of group matches on Tuesday, Marseille and Sporting Lisbon were going through from Group D

AP, PTI London Published 03.11.22, 04:20 AM
Tottenham’s Clement Lenglet (right) scores the equaliser against Marseille.

Tottenham’s Clement Lenglet (right) scores the equaliser against Marseille. Reuters

Tottenham Hotspur and Eintracht Frankfurt both came from behind to win their respective games and secure a place in the last-16 of the Champions League.

At half-time in the final round of group matches on Tuesday, Marseille and Sporting Lisbon were going through from Group D. But instead it was their opponents who progressed as a stoppage-time winner from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg saw Tottenham beat Marseille 2-1 to top the group and Frankfurt won by the same score in Lisbon to secure second spot on their Champions League debut.

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“During the first half we didn’t play well, it was difficult,” Tottenham goalscorer Clement Lenglet said.

“When we go back in the dressing room it was an important moment for the game … during the second half we played a better game, with a lot of intensity.”

The top two finishers in the other groups on Tuesday had already been decided, although not necessarily the order.

Porto beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 to snatch top spot in Group B after Club Brugge were held to a 0-0 draw at Bayer Leverkusen.

Napoli kept hold of first place in Group A despite dropping their first points in the Champions League this season in a 2-0 loss at second place Liverpool.

Bayern Munich did manage to progress with a perfect record as they beat Inter Milan 2-0 to make it six wins out of six. The four places in Group C had already been decided with Inter having secured second spot ahead of Barcelona.

Group D frenzy

In a rare occurrence for a group, all four teams had entered the final round of games with a chance to advance.

And which teams would go through and in what order changed several times over the night.

But Hojbjerg scored with the last kick of the game at Stade Velodrome for a goal that lifted Tottenham to the top of Group D above Frankfurt, who were in first place until the Denmark midfielder’s goal.

Mohamed Salah (left) slots it home.

Mohamed Salah (left) slots it home. Reuters

That goal also meant Marseille finished in last place and will have no involvement in European competition in the new year.

Lenglet had headed in the equaliser for Tottenham in the 54th minute after a woeful first half from the English side which didn’t have a touch in the opposition penalty box before the break. Tottenham had fallen behind on the stroke of half-time when Chancel Mbemba headed in a corner.

Frankfurt also came from behind, with Kolo Muani scoring a 72nd-minute winner for the visitors. Arthur Gomes had put the hosts ahead in the 39th and Frankfurt equalized with a penalty kick converted by Daichi Kamada in the 62nd.

Last-place finish

Atletico Madrid do not even have the consolation of the Europa League playoffs.

The Spanish team were heavy favourites to progress from their group but were left lamenting a last-place finish after losing at Porto, who secured top spot in Group B.

Few expected Porto to even advance after losing their first two Champions League matches this season but the Portuguese team had already secured their place in the last-16 with a match to spare.

And first-half goals from Mehdi Taremi and Stephen Eustaquio helped Porto win their fourth straight Champions League match to finish a point above Brugge.

Brugge’s Canadian winger Tajon Buchanan hit the crossbar in the opening seconds of the second half.

Perfect Bayern

It’s back-to-back perfect group stage records for Bayern.

Benjamin Pavard headed the German side in front in the first half and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting sealed the win against Inter in the 72nd minute with his seventh goal in his past six matches. Barcelona ended their disappointing campaign with a 4-2 win at Viktoria Plzen who fell to their sixth straight defeat.

Napoli were looking to become the first Italian team since AC Milan in 1992 to have six straight wins in their group. However, late goals from Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez ended the Italian side’s unbeaten start to the season in all competitions.

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