Jan Vertonghen proves he's one of the best around as Spurs see off Borussia Dortmund

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  • Tottenham played with fire before Harry Kane blew the candle out on any hopes Borussia Dortmund had of a miraculous comeback in a 1-0 victory at the Westfalenstadion.

    Hugo Lloris and his heroic defenders were peppered by Marco Reus, Mario Gotze et al but they stood firm to blank Dortmund, desperately needing a kick-start to overturn a 3-0 deficit from the first leg, going into the break.

    So precarious were the hosts’ chances that all Spurs needed was one goal to wrap up the tie – and Kane delivered with his 14th goal in 17 Champions League games shortly after the resumption.

    DORTMUND VERDICT

    Little fault could be found in BVB’s attacking intent – indeed they only know one way. Their execution, however, left a lot to be desired.

    Having worked the ball into a dangerous position, too often the men in yellow either fired straight at the gloves of Lloris or popped off efforts that were too tame to trouble the Frenchman.

    Added to the fact that Jan Vertonghen and Ben Davies were only too happy to throw their bodies into the fusillade, Dortmund could not afford to be so wasteful in front of goal.

    No amount of hardship could quieten a Westfalenstadion crowd but there were many audible groans, particularly when the ball left the boot of Marius Wolf.

    A winger by trade, the thought process behind playing him was sound. Yet every time the ball was pinged to him he took it on with the touch of an anvil, thumping the ball out of bounds or into Spurs’ hands.

    Achraf Hakimi had a torrid time at Wembley but with Tottenham happy to defend and the on-loan Real Madrid man so potent on the front foot, he could well have crafted an opening that would have sent jitters through the visitors.

    TOTTENHAM VERDICT

    Did Spurs ride their luck? Perhaps, but they also rode into the quarter-finals on the back of two mammoth Jan Vertonghen performances.

    Vertonghen channelled his inner Gandalf and put on another thou-shalt-not-pass masterclass, at one point early on whipping the ball off the toes of Reus when all looked lost.

    Virgil van Dijk could well be the best centre-back in the Premier League, indeed the world right now, but on this form Vertonghen cannot be far behind.

    Though they have stumbled of late, Dortmund have hit the back of the net 58 times in 24 Bundesliga games this season. They put four past Diego Simeone’s perennially stingy Atletico Madrid in the group stages.

    Over 180 minutes, the ball did not cross the Tottenham goal-line once and without their Belgian patroller – don’t forget he scored at Wembley – this tie would have been far closer.

    As for Spurs as a whole, they lived dangerously and a rear-guard defence with just Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko as shields is a seriously risky business against the best in Europe. It worked this time with such a big cushion from the first leg – will it work next?

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