Spurs’ Champions League dreams live on after victory over Inter Milan

Tottenham will head into their final Champions League Group B game against Barcelona with their hopes of qualification very much alive, after their 1-0 victory over Inter Milan at Wembley. 

Christian Eriksen netted the vital goal for Spurs, as he latched on to Dele Alli’s pass to find the top corner and keep his side’s unlikely bid for qualification on-track.

After taking one point from their opening three Champions League matches, Tottenham’s win over PSV three weeks ago meant they could still earn a place in the round of 16 against all odds.

Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris returned for Spurs after serving a suspension following his red card at PSV last month. With Juan Foyth unavailable, Vertonghen, who returned as a substitute against Chelsea on Saturday, also came back into the fold.

Vertonghen came in for Foyth with Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino describing it as ‘painful’ that the Argentina centre-back was ineligible for the Inter game. The 20-year-old had not been registered to play Champions League football for the London side, but has become a key part of Pochettino’s plans recently, starting Spurs’ last three games in the absence of Davinson Sanchez and Vertonghen.

Inter Milan were playing at Wembley for the first time in their 110-year history and settled into the game quickly, but the signs were ominous given the fact that Tottenham had won both of their previous home matches against Inter – 3-1 in the 2010-11 Champions League and 3-0 in the 2012-13 Europa League.

Harry Winks saw the first major chance for Spurs as he sent an effort crashing against the bar 38 minutes in.

The game opened up after the break and Inter almost took the lead as they went on the counter, with Spurs desperately chasing the win. Ivan Perisic sent a looping ball into the box which narrowly evaded the boot of centre-back Milan Skriniar.

Son Heung-Min was introduced to the game and made an immediate impact running at the defence down the right. Erik Lamela was able to benefit from the South Korean’s latest foray as his cross found Ben Davies who nodded down to Alli to fire just wide.

Inter introduced their own impact-sub in the form of Borja Valero whose lightning feet set up Perisic for a strike inside the box – Loris was up to the task and palmed the ferocious effort behind.

Relief overcame Wembley as Spurs finally took the lead on the 80th minute. Moussa Sissoko drove into the penalty area from deep, before cutting it back to Alli who turned to find Eriksen who smashed it into the top corner. Spurs were able warn-off the Inter advances late on to pick up the vital win.