Tottenham advanced to the last 16 of the Champions League as Group D winners after scoring in stoppage time to beat Marseille on a dramatic, terrifying evening in France.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored in the 95th minute to send Tottenham into the last 16 on a night when they were once again out of the competition.
Spurs needed a draw to qualify for the knockout stages but Marseille took the lead on the stroke of half-time through defender Chinsel Mbemba.
It meant Spurs finished third in the group – before going through to the Europa League – before Clement Lenglet equalized early in the second half.
Tottenham fought back desperately late on, but as Marseille pushed for the winner they needed to get through, they were caught on the break and Hodgeburg sealed victory for Spurs.
It was a dramatic evening as results throughout Group D had a bearing on Tottenham’s progress in the competition and made for anxious viewing.
Sporting Lisbon’s 2-1 home defeat by Frankfurt meant Spurs ultimately finished top, but at one point they dropped to third in the group – heading out of the competition – and their position changed six times during the match, with three different teams topping the table during the evening.
The stoppage-time winner by Hojbjerg also saw Marseille finish bottom of the group, meaning they missed out on a place in the Europa League as well as failing to progress to the knockout stage of the Champions League.
Tottenham were under pressure for large spells – former Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez and Jordan Veretout were both denied for Marseille before Spurs improved in the second half.
Harry Kane was inches from getting on the end of a cross to make it 1-1 just after half-time, before Lenglet capitalised on Spurs’ improvement with a clever header from Ivan Perisic’s free-kick.
Tottenham striker Kane later had a goal disallowed when he was clearly offside, before Hojbjerg fired the ball against the crossbar.
The drama continued as Marseille had a glorious chance to make it 2-1 with less than 10 minutes remaining when Sanchez’s shot was crucially blocked by Perisic from close range before ex-Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac headed wide while unmarked.
But Tottenham managed to cling on and Kane held the ball up in the dying seconds before sliding it through for Hojbjerg to find the back of the net and silence a wild crowd in Marseille.
