Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg on Tuesday scored a 95th-minute winner as Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to beat Olympique de Marseille 2-1 and reach the Champions League knockout stage, where they were joined by Eintracht Frankfurt after their victory at Sporting.
Liverpool ended SSC Napoli’s unbeaten start to the season with a 2-0 success at Anfield, but the Italian club did enough to finish top of Group A.
Atletico Madrid crashed out of Europe altogether with a loss to Porto, while Bayern Munich made it six wins from six matches by beating Inter.
Photo: Reuters
At a raucous Velodrome, Tottenham knew they would progress if they could avoid defeat by Marseille, although manager Antonio Conte had to watch from the stands after being red-carded in last week’s dramatic draw with Sporting.
Spurs were camped inside their own half for the majority of the first period and fell behind just before the break when Chancel Mbemba headed in Jordan Veretout’s cross after a quickly taken corner.
The Premier League side were much improved after the restart and Clement Lenglet glanced in a 54th-minute equalizer.
Photo: AFP
Former Arsenal leftback Sead Kolasinac nodded wide a glorious late opportunity to send Marseille through.
He was made to pay as Hojbjerg struck on the counter as Spurs snatched top spot in the group and denied Marseille the consolation of a Europa League place.
“I just spoke with Antonio. He’s tired because to watch from the crowd is not normal,” Tottenham assistant coach Cristian Stellini told BT Sport. “He wasted a lot of energy.”
That Hojbjerg goal pushed Eintracht, who also won 2-1, down to second in Group D and kept Sporting in European competition.
Like Tottenham, Sporting only needed a point to qualify and they forged ahead six minutes before halftime as Arthur Gomes volleyed home at the back post.
Frankfurt, playing in the competition for the first time since losing the 1960 European Cup final to Real Madrid, did not give up and Daichi Kamada scored a 62nd-minute penalty awarded for handball.
Randal Kolo Muani provided the winning moment, latching onto Ansgar Knauff’s hooked pass and hammering the ball into the far corner.
The players celebrated wildly on the pitch after the Europa League holders’ latest European exploit, with Sporting coach Ruben Amorim left looking stunned on the touchline.
“We didn’t start well at the beginning of the game,” said Frankfurt midfielder Sebastian Rode. “But we are a comeback team, we gave everything in the second half and deservedly make the next round.”
Liverpool brought an end to Napoli’s 21-game unbeaten run, but could not win by four goals to take first place.
The teams were already assured of a knockout-phase berth.
Liverpool put Saturday’s surprise Premier League home loss to Leeds United behind them, as late goals from Mohamed Salah, scoring in a fifth straight Champions League game, and Darwin Nunez gained a measure of revenge for the 4-1 loss in Naples in September.
“I would have really enjoyed the game even without the goals,” Reds manager Juergen Klopp said. “We showed tonight a reaction. Being compact makes all the difference.”
Ajax saw off Rangers 3-1 at Ibrox to inflict a sixth straight defeat in Group A on the Scottish giants.
Earlier, Atletico failed to finish third in Group B and drop into the Europa League as a 2-1 loss at Porto saw Bayer 04 Leverkusen take third thanks to their goalless draw at Club Brugge.
Bayern finished with a 100 percent record by seeing off Inter 2-0 at the Allianz Arena in Group C.
Benjamin Pavard headed home a corner and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting crashed in his seventh goal in six games.
Barcelona’s bitterly disappointing tournament came to an end with a 4-2 victory at bottom club Viktoria Plzen.
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