MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Tottenham qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League after recovering from a woeful first-half performance to beat Marseille 2-1 and win its group on Tuesday.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg scored with the last kick of the game at Stade Velodrome for a goal that lifted Tottenham to the top of Group D above Eintracht Frankfurt, which had already clinched a 2-1 win at Sporting and was in first place until Højbjerg’s goal.
That goal also meant Marseille finished in last place and will have no involvement in European competition in the new year.
The French team had to win to advance to the knockout stage for the first time since the 2011-12 season and dominated the first half, penning the visitors in their own half and finally taking the lead in stoppage time when Chancel Mbemba headed in after a quickly taken corner.
Tottenham didn’t have a touch in the opposition penalty box in the first half, during which Son Heung-min was forced off the field — looking dazed — after receiving a shoulder to his face by Mbemba. The forward, who is set to play at the World Cup for South Korea, appeared to be unsteady on his feet as he was helped off by a member of Spurs’ medical staff.
Tottenham finally gained a foothold early in the second half and Clement Lenglet headed home a 54th-minute equalizer — with the team’s latest goal from a set piece — by glancing in Ivan Perisic’s left-wing free kick.
In a nervy final 15 minutes, Højbjerg struck the crossbar for Tottenham before, at the other end, Alexis Sanchez’s goalbound shot was deflected wide off the body of Perisic.
Marseille’s team contained four players who have played for Tottenham’s fierce rival, Arsenal, and one them — Sead Kolasinac — entered as a substitute and had a golden chance in the 87th minute to put the hosts ahead. Found by a cross to the far post, Kolasinac headed wide from barely two meters out.
With Marseille pouring forward and its animated coach, Igor Tudor, on the field of play, Tottenham broke forward in the fifth minute of stoppage time and Harry Kane played through Højbjerg to crash a shot in off the post.
The game was played with Tottenham manager Antonio Conte sitting in the stands as a result of his red card in last week’s draw against Sporting.
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports