Spurs snatch 2-1 win at Marseille to reach last 16

Tottenham Hotspur weathered a first-half siege before snatching an unlikely 2-1 victory at Olympique de Marseille to reach the Champions League last 16 as Group D winners after a nerve-jangling conclusion on Tuesday.

The Londoners, who needed only to avoid defeat to go through, were on the ropes when they trailed to Chancel Mbemba’s header in first-half stoppage time.

However, French central defender Clement Lenglet proved to be Tottenham’s saviour when he headed in his first goal for the club in the 54th minute.

Spurs, who lost forward Son Heung-min to a head injury in a torrid opening period, were a different team after the break and took control after Lenglet’s equaliser.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg struck the crossbar for the visitors but Marseille should have scored late on when Sead Kolasinac somehow missed an open goal with a header.

Hojbjerg then sealed the victory in stoppage time to put Tottenham top of the group and leave Marseille, who at one point in the evening were top, in fourth spot and out of Europe.

Salah and Nunez secure Liverpool win but Napoli still claim top spot
Late goals from Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez earned Liverpool a 2-0 victory over Napoli on Tuesday but it was not enough to deny the Italians sealing top spot in Champions League Group A.

Both teams had already sealed a knockout stage place, but top spot in the group, and a potentially more favourable last-16 opponent, was still up for grabs, with Liverpool needing to beat Napoli by four goals or more to sneak to the summit.

The first half felt like an encounter where both teams’ main priority had been fulfilled, but the game sprang to life early in the second when Leo Ostigard thought he had put Napoli in front, only for his header to be ruled offside after a VAR check.

With nothing to lose and top spot out of reach Liverpool did at least manage to secure victory on the night, with Salah prodding home at the far post five minutes from time, before Nunez added a second in stoppage time.

Napoli’s 4-1 demolition of Liverpool in their group opener in September proved crucial in the end, as they finished on 15 points, the same as Liverpool, but with a better goal difference in clashes between the pair.

Tuesday’s Champions League results:
Porto (2) 2 Atlético Madrid (0) 1
Bayer Leverkusen (0) 0 Club Brugge (0) 0
Liverpool (0) 2 Napoli (0) 0
Rangers (0) 1 Ajax (2) 3
Bayern München (1) 2 Internazionale (0) 0
Viktoria Plzeň (0) 2 Barcelona (2) 4
Sporting CP (1) 1 Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 2
Olympique Marseille (1) 1 Tottenham Hotspur (0) 2