A modified Spurs played a season-best 45 minutes to beat 10-man Borussia Dortmund 2-0, relieving some of the mounting pressure on Thomas Frank.
Despite having only 11 available outfield players and continuing doubts over the future of their head coach, Tottenham produced 45 minutes of their freest football since Frank took over and look to secure a top-eight finish at the Champions League stage.
“I’ll have two big glasses of red wine. I’m going to need that,” a clearly relieved Frank joked after the game. The team that lost to West Ham last time was booed in a hostile atmosphere.
“The players are giving their all. That’s a good sign for the coach. It’s a very good sign that they want to do everything. We’ve got the bare minimum of players available.”
“It was great to experience how the fans pushed us forward. That energy between the fans and the players was magical.”
Spurs have saved many of their best performances this season for the European competition, but this was still a hand-picked squad and came against the highest-profile opponent they have hosted in this tournament under Frank.
In a perfect example of how necessity is the mother of invention, makeshift left winger Jed Spence was the best player in the opening game, but the headlines went to the goalscoring duo of captain Cristian Romero and returning Dominic Solanke.
At least Spence won the corner kick that led to Romero’s opener, which was recycled by Wilson Odbert and the centre-back fired home in the 14th minute to give Spurs a well-deserved lead at that point.
After five months of bland football, the home fans regularly left their seats as Spurs made the most of their obvious physical advantage, cutting through the visitors at will, threatening with every attack, only to miss a vital second goal.
Less than 30 minutes into the game, Spurs’ task was further accelerated when Daniel Svensson was sent off following a VAR review for a harsh attack on Odbert. Eleven minutes later, Spurs finally had a cushion when the French winger’s cross was curled into the goal by Solanke, who was making his Champions League debut, although it was not initially deflected off his own calf.
Spurs went into half-time without conceding a single shot, although there were still concerns that they might get stung again by the tail that fans are used to witnessing. Dortmund certainly improved after making two substitutions at half-time, but Julian Ryerson’s free-kick minutes after the interval almost caused the hosts to collapse.
Instead, it was Lukas Bergvall’s injury that was the only frustration for Frank on an otherwise very encouraging night. The injury, at the very least, heralded the arrival of 17-year-old debutant Juniai Byfield, who will become the youngest Champions League player in Spurs’ history.
As Spurs celebrated an unaccustomed victory, the teenager settled comfortably into his place at right-back, allowing Frank to step away from the spotlight for a few days, at least until the weekend’s trip to Burnley.
Frank: We have to move forward with this result.
Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank:
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Thomas Frank praised the “energy” between fans and players during Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund.
“The important thing is to build on this with our performance and win against Burnley on Saturday. It’s a huge skill that players can produce every week in the Premier League and Champions League.”
“We are working hard for that. As I have said many times, this is the eighth game in a row where we have consistently performed very well, but we have not been able to get the margin.
“Today I would say the margin could have been a red card instead of the comeback against Liverpool. Of course it was a triple contact with Dom scoring the goal, but we didn’t do that against Sunderland, Bournemouth and West Ham, when we could have won all three games.
“We have to keep doing the same thing, we have to keep believing, and things will get better.”
Analysis: Sterner test scheduled, almost perfect night
Sky Sports’ Ron Walker at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:
“This result was everything Tottenham and Thomas Frank needed tonight.
“First and foremost it’s a win, but it’s also a performance with quality and excitement, something that’s been sorely lacking this season.
“Despite the cold and rain, most of the South Stand continued to applaud the players and even Frank this time.
“Of course there are things to be aware of in terms of Dortmund’s physicality and Burnley will pose a completely different challenge on Saturday.
“But those are matters for another day. In a welcome change, Frank and his players were all smiles on the pitch.”
Solanke: I hope this is a turning point.
Goalscorer Dominic Solanke to TNT Sports:
“(I hope this is a turning point). We have done very well in the Champions League and if you look back at last season and the good performance in the Europa League, it definitely gave the team confidence.
“We know we haven’t done well enough in the Premier League this year, so we hope this will give us another boost and allow us to grow in the league and qualify for the Champions League.”
“It’s important that everyone is together, players, staff, fans. We are one club and we all want the same thing. We need to perform on the pitch like we did tonight and hopefully we can continue this momentum.”
