Tottenham Hotspur produced a memorable second-half display to take complete control of their Champions League last-16 tie with Borussia Dortmund courtesy of a 3-0 win in the first leg at Wembley this evening.
There was little to separate the two sides at the interval, but Spurs took the lead through the in-form Son Heung-min within two minutes of the restart and further goals from man-of-the-match Jan Vertonghen and substitute Fernando Llorente left Spurs within touching distance of their first Champions League quarter-final since 2011.
Dortmund were unable to offer any response to Tottenham's improvement after the break and now find themselves with a mountain to climb when they welcome the Premier League outfit back to the Westfalenstadion for the second leg on March 5.
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Both sides were missing some key attacking players through injury, and that initially showed in a first half which lacked clear chances - although Spurs did come within inches of breaking the deadlock after only seven minutes when Lucas Moura's sweetly-struck volley flashed narrowly wide of the far post.
Most of Dortmund's best moments in the opening 45 minutes came through either the impressive Jadon Sancho or Tottenham errors, and Chelsea-bound Christian Pulisic almost took advantage of the latter when he was denied by Hugo Lloris from a tight angle.
Lloris then made another routine stop to deny Axel Witsel five minutes later as Dortmund began to gain a degree of control over the game, with Spurs struggling to break down the visitors' disciplined defensive shape.
The hosts did begin to improve in the final 15 minutes of the half, though, and Christian Eriksen fired one sight of goal over before Roman Burki was needed to divert Son's dangerous low cross away from his six-yard box.
Sandwiched between those moments was a Thomas Delaney strike at the other end which Lloris parried back into a dangerous area, and the Spurs skipper was called upon again in the final minute of the first half when he turned Dan-Axel Zagadou's header away from goal after Juan Foyth had done just enough to take the pace off the ball.
Spurs ended the first half without registering a single shot on target, but they corrected that within two minutes of play resuming as Son gave the hosts a perfect start to the second period.
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Vertonghen - playing as a left wing-back - was the creator with a delightful delivery into the middle, and Son had cleverly peeled off his man before cushioning his volley into the top corner for a ninth career goal against Dortmund - more than he has managed against any other club.
Suddenly Spurs looked like a different team going forward and it was the unlikely figure of Vertonghen who acted as the main driving force, threatening to get his own name on the scoresheet just before the hour mark with a barraging run which end with a sliced right-footed effort from range.
A crucial last-ditch piece of defending from Zagadou denied Son another clear chance moments later, but Toby Alderweireld rose highest from the resulting corner to force a save from Burki with his glancing header.
Having looked the more dangerous side in the first half, Dortmund failed to get the likes of Sancho and Mario Gotze into the game at all in the second and the closest they came to an away goal before stoppage time was a tame strike from Mahmoud Dahoud which drew a routine stop by Lloris.
Spurs took their foot off the pedal for a spell between their goals, but they began to apply pressure once again in the final 15 minutes - starting with a Lucas volley which was well blocked by Delaney.
It was the irrepressible Vertonghen - a force of nature after the break - who got a deserved goal to double Tottenham's lead on the night, stealing into the box before volleying a confident finish past Burki from Serge Aurier's cross.
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Mauricio Pochettino turned to Llorente off the bench in the immediate aftermath of the goal - as much to hold the ball up as to pose an attacking threat - but within two minutes of his introduction he was celebrating Tottenham's third as the tie began to get away from the stunned visitors.
Again it came from a cross into the box as Eriksen's corner was delivered into a dangerous area, where Llorente outmuscled his marker to glance his header into the bottom corner.
Dortmund did almost grab a late away goal which would have provided some much-needed hope for the return leg when Raphael Guerreiro curled inches wide of the target from 25 yards, but there was to be no consolation for the Bundesliga leaders as their Champions League ambitions were left hanging by a thread.
TOTTENHAM (3-4-1-2): Lloris; Foyth, Sanchez, Alderweireld; Aurier, Sissoko (Wanyama 91'), Winks, Vertonghen; Eriksen; Lucas (Llorente 84'), Son (Lamela 90')
BORUSSIA DORTMUND (4-3-3): Burki; Hakimi, Toprak, Zagadou (Schmelzer 77'), Diallo; Dahoud, Witsel, Delaney; Sancho (Guerreiro 88') , Gotze, Pulisic (Bruun Larsen 88')
Barney Corkhill
