Hojbjerg heroics sees Spurs win group

Having had a qualification-sealing, last minute winner disallowed at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on November 1^st, it looked as though Spurs were going to have to do it the hard way; a concept that has become all too familiar to fans under the reign of Antonio Conte. This would come in the form of a final group stage match away to Marsielle, at the hostile Stade Vélodrome.

With all four teams in Group D still in contention for the knockout stages of the UCL, a tough away fixture on matchday six, with no room for error, would hardly be what Antonio Conte would have wanted when Tottenham kicked off their UCL campaign in early September. Having been suspended for expressing his frustrations in their game against Sporting Lisbon a week earlier, assistant manager Cristian Stellini stepped up to lead Tottenham to their first UCL knockout stage since the 2019/2020 season.

In what is becoming an all-too-common theme for Spurs this season, Conte’s men failed to show up in the first half. After a lacklustre first half an hour, Spurs had failed to connect on their passing game, with few precious options for the man on the ball. Things went from bad to worse for the North London side, with Chancel Mbemba scoring for Marsielle in the final minute before the break, it was the least the hosts deserved.

Staring at elimination, Spurs had to dig deep, show their fighting spirit. During a second half that will live long in the memory of all Spurs fans, Conte’s men did so. The 54^th minute saw Clément Lenglet open his account for Spurs, finding the precious equaliser that would see them through as group runners-up. Tottenham grew into the game, dominating large parts of the second period. With four ex-Arsenal players on the pitch, the script was there for Spurs’ North London rivals to play a part in their exit from the Champions League – and Sead Kolasinac came agonisingly close. The 88^th minute saw the ex-Arsenal defender, who had entered as a substitute, meet a free header at the far post. But to the frustrations of 54,000 Marsielle fans, the Bosnian international headed it just wide.

The visitors had narrowly avoided a complete collapse, and it seemed the Spurs would go marching on to the knockout stages, as group runners-up to Eintracht Frankfurt. Yet the drama was far from over. It was the final minute of stoppage time, all Spurs needed was to not concede another. But when Harry Kane picked out the perfect pass for the arriving Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, the Danish international kept his composure, winning Group D at the death with a most impressive finish.

Being a year ago this week Antonio Conte took charge in N17, the Italian has Spurs sitting 4th in the Premier League and into the last 16 of the Champions League. With such an impressive turnaround within a 12-month tenure, it is without doubt Conte is the man to bring the glory days back to North London’s oldest club.