“Thanks to a powerful first half, Thomas Frank’s team came close to reaching the Champions League playoffs.”, — write: football.ua
Thanks to a powerful first half, Thomas Frank’s team came close to reaching the Champions League playoffs.
Tottenham v Borussia Dortmund, Getty Images January 21, 2026, 12:18 AM
The hosts opened the scoring in the 14th minute: Christian Romero successfully closed the pass from Wilson Odober from the right wing. Tottenham continued to press the opponent, forcing the German club to make mistakes under high pressure. Things got more complicated for Borussia after the sending off of Daniel Svensson, who was red-carded on VAR for a dangerous tackle on Odober.
The Londoners took advantage of the advantage in numbers even before the break. In the 37th minute, Odober was again at the center of events, organizing an attack through the wall with Pedro Porro, after which he shot into the penalty area. Dominic Solanke ricocheted off his own heel and crossed the ball into Gregor Kobel’s goal, doubling Tottenham’s lead.
In the second half, the tempo of the game decreased significantly. Tottenham were in control of the match, although they had a chance to break the deadlock when Randal Kolo Muani failed to beat Kobel one-on-one. At the end of the match, Borussia created a dangerous moment, but Vicario saved the team after Nico Schlotterback’s header.
This victory allowed Tottenham to climb to fourth place in the table and take a significant step towards direct entry into the Champions League playoffs. Borussia Dortmund, remaining in the minority in the first half, could not impose a full-fledged fight on the opponent and made the task difficult for itself before the decisive round.
Goals: Romero, 14, Solanke, 37
Tottenham: Vicario – Porro, Romero, Danso, Udogi – Gray, Bergvall (Byfield, 62) – Odober, Simmons, Spence – Solanke (Kolo Muani, 70)
Borussia Dortmund: Kobel — Anton, Schlotterback, Bensebaini — Coutu (Bayer, 76), Bellingham, Nmecha (Chukwuemeka, 64), Svensson — Adeyemi (Silva, 64), Brandt (Ryerson, 46) — Girassi (Ghan, 46)
Warning: Gray – Ryerson
Subtraction: Svensson, 24