English Premiership side, Tottenham Hotspurs have put one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals after a thrilling second-half performance saw them demolish Germany’s Borussia Dortmund 3-0 in the last-16 first leg at played at the Wembley Stadium on Wednesday night.
Spurs were second best in the first half but put that right after the break as goals from Son Heung-min, Jan Vertonghen and Fernando Llorente swung the tie firmly in their favour.
It will take some capitulation in the return leg in Dortmund on March 5 for them not to make it through to the last eight, when Harry Kane and Dele Alli were expected to be fully fit and back in the fold.
Son continued his leading role in the influential duo’s absence as he scored the first goal of the encounter, his 11th goal in his last 12 games. This is even as his love for scoring against Dortmund continued as that was the ninth time he has scored against them in 11 games.
Vertonghen, who was playing at left wing back, capped a man-of-the-match performance by scoring the second goal in the 83rd minute.
Three minutes later, substitute Llorente gave Spurs the much-needed breathing space by nodding home from a corner with his first touch of the game.
The victory was Tottenham’s first win in a home knockout tie in the Champions League and by keeping a clean sheet, it means the Bundesliga leaders have to score at least four goals in the second leg to have any chance of progressing.
In the other match of the night, the tournament’s defending champions, Spain’s Real Madrid defeated hard-fighting Dutch outfit, Ajax 2-1 at the Amsterdam Arena to give them the edge going into the second leg.
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