Borussia Dortmund 1 Tottenham 2: Spurs come from behind to secure top spot in Group H

TOTTENHAM fans greeted their side's turnaround win in Dortmund with an inevitably chant of "Are you watching Arsenal?" after Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son guaranteed top spot in Group H.

Posted Wednesday, November 22, 2017 by Dailystar.co.uk

Borussia Dortmund 1 Tottenham 2: Spurs come from behind to secure top spot in Group H
Son Heung-min celebrates his winner for Tottenham against Borussia Dortmund

Who cares if you are behind your local rivals over 90 minutes, seemed to the message, when you finish above Real Madrid after six games.

Kane's sixth Champions League goal means that Cristiano Ronaldo is the only man in front of him in the hunt for the golden boot and leaves his just four short of the half-century he has set his sights on in 2017 for both club and country.

Despite falling behind, the win was no more that Mauricio Pochettino's side deserved and they showed that no minor setback such as the loss to Arsenal can disguise how far they have come in recent years.

** FIRST HIT It was just 20 months ago that Tottenham left this impressive and intimidating cauldron with their tails between their legs, staring at an exit from the last 16 of the Europa League following a 3-0 first leg defeat. It had been an education.

One which, in fairness, the club had learned from. Only Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris from the eleven on the pitch at the final whistle in March 2016 were among the starters last night, but it was not just the faces that had changed - it was the whole attitude.

Tottenham had already qualified for the knockout stages and had looked every bit the part in doing so - now the only thing up for grabs was whether they could top a group that included Real Madrid as well as their German opponents in this game.

A surprisingly strong line-up started brightly and within the opening minutes Heung-Min Son was put through by Dele Alli with Dan-Axel Zagadou having to scurry back to prevent the South Korea international from adding to an impressive tally of seven goals in nine games against Dortmund playing for Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Spurs.

Dortmund are in a poor run of form and striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was suspended by the club for the game at the weekend for his attitude towards training.

In the 19th minute, he should have announced his return after a clever chip from Andriy Yarmalenko but scuffed a poor shot wide. Aubameyang is not one to stay quiet for long, however, and when he was put through by Yarmolenko's clever flick just after the half hour, he finished in business-like fashion and his celebration - rather pointedly - was no more animated.

Tottenham rallied and Roman Burki in the Dortmund goal twice pulled off world class saves to keep the Germans in front going into the break.

A brilliant move started by Christian Eriksen looked to have been ended by the Dane, too, when he swept the ball goalwards only for Burki to make an extraordinary block.

Tottenham won a corner and Eric Dier's header looked destined for the corner before again being clawed away by the Dortmund stopper.

Borussia Dortmund 1 Tottenham 2: Spurs come from behind to secure top spot in Group H
Harry Kane ended his four game goal drought for Spurs

Then just when it seemed that despite the bitterly cold breeze, Kane had somehow reverted to August non-scoring mode, the Tottenham striker scored his first goal for 30 days.

Danny Rose won possession, Alli quickly switched the ball inside and for all the heroics in the first half, it was a relatively perfunctory strike that beat Burki in the end.

Eriksen's sublime pass could not quite find Kane just after the hour mark and Alli ended up shooting wide but Tottenham were certainly the ones pressing now.

In the end, it was Alli who turned the game around completely. After a disappointing north London derby, in the 76th minute he was at his quicksilver best, slipping through the Dortmund defence to tee up Son, inevitably, to break Dortmund hearts yet again.

BORUSSIA DORTMUND (4-3-3): Burki; Toljan, Bartra, Zagadou (Toprak 78), Schmelzer; Weigl, Guerreiro, Gotze; Kagawa (Castro 66), Yarmolenko, Aubameyang. Goal: Aubameyang 31.

TOTTENHAM (3-5-2): Lloris, Dier, Sanchez, Vertonghen; Aurier, Alli (Dembele 78), Winks, Eriksen (Sissoko 85), Rose; Son, Kane. Goal: Kane 49, Son 76.

REFEREE: C Turpin (France).