Ivan Perisic speaks ...
“We should do better from the first minute,” says the Tottenham winger. “We were a bit nervous with the ball but defended well and kept a clean sheet. We have to keep going, do a bit better with the ball but it was a bit easier 11 v 10. We signed a lot of new players and need some time, especially in the Champions League. We have to continue like this and are in a good way.”
Match report: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Marseille
Group D: Richarlison opened his Champions League account with two fine headed second-half goals to give his side the win over 10-man Marseille. Davit Hytner reports from White Hart Lane.
Harry Kane speaks ...
“Tough game,” says the Tottenham striker in an interview with BT Sport. “We were playing against a really good side, who have obviously had a really good start to the season themselves this year. It’s difficult, you know? A home game in the Champions League, we wanted to start strong and get the win, which we did in the second half. We had to dig deep and keep knocking on the door and thankfully Richie popped up with a couple of goals.”
Full time: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Marseille
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeep! It wasn’t pretty and the game turned on a red card for Chancel Mbemba in the second half, but Spurs have got the win and couldn’t be happier with it. Richarlison scored two outsatanding headers to win the game for the hosts, his first in the Champions League. At the final whistle, he goes to greet his family behind one of the goals, where he breaks down in tears.
90+4 min: A brilliant block from Ben Davies keeps Marseille out after the Welsh international had given the ball away cheaply.
90+4 min: Matt Doherty wins a corner for Spurs, it’s taken and the ball finds its way to Kane, who spins and shoots. Wide.
90+3 min: Hugo Lloris dawdles over a kick-out as the clock ticks down.
90 + 1 min: Spurs advance again, with Tanganga trying to play Kane in behind. His pass is intercepted. A penny for the thoughts of Son, who has retired to the bench and is still without a goal to his name this season.
89 min: Not for the first time this season, they’ve been nowhere near their best but Spurs are about to eke out a win against 10-man Marseille courtesy of two excellent headers from Richarlison.
88 min: Marseille double-substitution: Cengiz Under and Papa Gueye on for Jordan Veretout and Samuel Gigot.
86 min: Tottenham double-substituion: Yves Bissouma and Matt Doherty on for Son and Bentancur.
83 min: Tottenham’s players have finally woken up and so have their fans. “Are you watching Arsenal?” they sing, having sat in almost total silence with little or nothing to say for themselves during the 79 minutes when their team actually needed their support.
GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Marseille (Richarlison 81)
Spurs go two up! Having steered a Perisic cross through the gloves of Pau Lopez to score his first Champions League goal, Richarlison powers a second header home at the far post, outjumping Samuel Gigot and directing the ball inside the near post.
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GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Marseille (Richarlison 76)
Tottenham lead! Richarlison leaps and stretches every sinew to power a header past Pau Lopez.
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74 min: Nuno Tavares squares the ball acrossd the face of the Spurs goal. Ben Davies makes a hash of trying to clear it but somehow it doesn’t fall kindly at the feet of Amine Harit, who wasn’t expecting it to come his way. Spurs clear.
73 min: Tottenham double-substitution: Japhet Tanganga and Ben Davies on for Cristian Romero and Clement Lenglet.
70 min: Marseille substitution: Amine Harit on for Luis Suarez, who leaves the field v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. And who can blame him? Moments previously, Sead Kolasinac replaced Jonathan Clauss in the Marseille ranks.
68 min: Now Kulusevski sends a cross into the Marseille box from the right touchline. He overhits his delivery and sends the ball floating well wide of the far upright.
67 min: Tottenham sling two crosses in quick succession into the Marseille penalty area. Both are cleared.
66 min: Son is booked for protesting too much when the referee awards Marseille a goal-kick for what should definitely have been a Tottenham corner.
65 min: Kulusevski cuts inside Jonathan Clauss, dribbles along the byline and shoots from an impossible angle and it’s blocked by Pau Lopez.
61 min: Cristian Romero sends a wonderful ball from deep high up the pitch for Perisic (who is higher up the pitch!) to chase. The Croatian misjudges the flight of the ball, miscontrols and is unable to get a cross in for Son. At the second attempt, he picks out Richarlison, who heads over the cross-bar.
60 min: Tottenham substitution: Dejan Kulusevski on for Emerson. Will Spurs switch to a back four? Will Perisic move a little higher up the pitch? Does anyone care?
58 min: Tottenham have yet to muster a shot on target, while Marseille have gone into time-wasting mode.
55 min: A man to the good, Tottenham are finally dominating possession with Marseille having completely changed their approach.
53 min: Eric Dier gets booked for leaping into the back of Luis Suarez as the two players contested a high ball.
51 min: Marseille substitution: Igor Tudor replaces Gerson with the centre-back Leonardo Balerdi.
49 min: Harry Kane takes the free-kick, the ball in line with the right side of Marseille’s penalty area, and shoots straight into the defensive wall.
RED CARD! Marseille's Chancel Mbema is sent off
47 min: Son runs on to a through ball from Harry Kane and is tripped by Chancel Mbemba about five yards outside the Marseille penalty area. The referee reaches for his back pocket, pulls out the red card, drops it out on the ground, retrieves and brandishes in Mbemba’s direction. On loan at Marseille from Manchester United, Eric Bailly is booked for protesting.
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Second half: Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Marseille
46 min: Marseille get the ball rolling for the second half with no changes in personnel on either side.
Half-time: Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Marseille
Peep! A diabolically bad half of football draws to a close with the deadlock resolutely unbroken. Both sets of players have been fairly uninspired but if it was a boxing match you’d have Marseille ahead on points because despite being away from home they’re at least having a go. Awful stuff.
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45+1 min: Hugo Lloris finally makes one, getting low down to his right to push away a 20-yard drive from Matteo Guendouzi.
44 min: As we approach half-time, the quality of this game has been so high that neither goalkeeper has had to make a save.
42 min: Marseille win a free-kick some way out. It’s half-cleared from the Tottenham penalty area and Guendouzi tries his luck on the breaking ball with a volley. Blocked!
40 min: Spurs break upfield with Son on the ball and Kane up in support in a tow-on-one. Son pings the ball wide to Kane, who draws the Marseille goalkeeper Pau Lopez before rolling a low diagonal effort well wide of the far upright.
39 min: Son runs into traffic about 25 yards from the Marseille goal and loses possession. Marseille break upfield on the counter but Ivan Perisic is on hand to put a stop to their gallop.
37 min: Tottenham free-kick, wide on the right. Son floats the ball into the Marseille penalty area, where it’s cleared by the first man.
34 min: Richarlison has a shot blocked by Chancel Mbemba on the edge of the penalty area. Moments later, Kane cuts inside from the right and has an effort blocked by Gerson. This is a truly dreadful game of football.
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32 min: From the edge of the penalty area, Guendouzi has a shot blocked.
30 min: Tottenham give the ball away cheaply again and concede a corner. With half an hour gone the Spurs fans have been completely silenced and it’s their visiting Marseille counterparts who are making all the noise. Nothing comes of the French side’s set-piece.
28 min: Lopez is passed fit to continue and hoofs the ball upfield. Spurs win possession, then lose it again. This is a very scrappy game.
26 min: Ivan Perisic does well to keep the ball in play down by the byline and gets a cross in. Under pressure from Harry Kane, Marseille goalkeeper Pau Lopez leaps and fumbles the ball, then needs to receive treatment for a small cut above his eye.
24 min: Free-kick for Marseille, wide on the left. It’s taken short and the French side’s skipper Valentin Rongier sends the ball sailing out of play on the other side of the pitch while trying to pick out Guendouzi on the right touchline.
20 min: Marseille continue to dominate possession without fashioning anything in the way of a chance. Dashing towards the Spurs penalty area, Nuno Tavares glides past a lazy attempted tackle by Cristian Romero but Emerson is on hand to save his team-mates bacon.
18 min: Richarlison tries to send Harry Kane in behind the Marseille defence with a through ball along the deck. It’s intercepted. The ball breaks to Rodrigo Bentancur, who quickly raises a hand in apology in the direction of Ivan Perisic after sending a wayward pass out for a throw-in.
15 min: From the left wing, Nuno Tavares tries to pick out Luis Suarez on the edge of the Tottenham penalty area. Cristian Romero intercepts and clears. Marseille continue to dominate possession but Hugo Lloris has yet to make a save.
14 min: The cameras cut to the away section of White Hart Lane, where Bristol Rovers manager and former Marseille midfielder Joey Barton can be seen in an orange jersey cheering on his former side.
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13 min: Mbemba overhits a cross towards the far post and the ball sails out for a Tottenham throw-in deep inside their own half.
11 min: Chancel Mbemba wins a throw-in for his side deep in Tottenham territory. Nothing comes of it.
9 min: No chances of note so far but Marseille are in the ascendency early doors. They are, however, playing with a flat back four and a very high line, leaving plenty of space for Harry Kane or Son to attack should the need arise.
6 min: Marseille continue to take the game to Spurs, who are happy to sit back and soak up their pressure. On the back of his one-time Arsenal connections, Matteo Guendouzi is getting booed any time he touches the ball. He won’t care.
5 min: Harry Kane hits an exquisite cross-field diagonal to Heung-min Son, who tries to nod the ball into the path of Richarlison in the inside right channel. Matteo Guendouzi intercepts and clears up.
3 min: Marseille try to get forward, with Matteo Guendouzi trying to pick out Luis Suarez with a weighted ball in behind. He over-hits his pass and the ball goes out for a goal-kick.
Tottenham Hotspur v Marseille is go ...
1 min: Tottenham kick off, their players in white shirts, shorts and socks. The players of Marseille are a vision in Lynx Aqua-Marine.
Not long now: Both sets of players march out on to the White Hart Lane sward and line up either side of the team of match officals for the Champions League anthem. Kick-off is just a few handshakes, an exchange of pennants, a coin-toss and a shrill blast of the referee’s whistle away.
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Marseille's last 15 Champions League games:
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) September 7, 2022
Won: 1
Drawn: 0
Lost: 14
Tonight’s match will start on time. Despite the tardiness of Marseille, kick-off will be at 8pm (BST).
Tottenham Hotspur v Marseille line-ups
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Romero, Dier, Lenglet, Emerson, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Perisic, Richarlison, Son, Kane.
Subs: Doherty, Skipp, Sanchez, Gil Salvatierra, Sessegnon, Forster, Kulusevski, Spence, Tanganga, Sarr, Davies, Bissouma.
Marseille: Pau Lopez, Mbemba, Bailly, Gigot, Clauss, Rongier, Veretout, Tavares, Guendouzi, Gerson, Suarez.
Subs: Ngapandouetnbu, Balerdi, Payet, Under, Gueye, Kolasinac, Kabore, Blanco, Harit.
Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)
This just in ...
With less than an hour to kick-off, the Marseille team coach has not yet arrived at White Hart Lane. Are they stuck on the Seven Sisters Road? If not, where are they? Is Matteo Guendouzi currently showing his team-mates how to buy a Tube ticket? Will the game kick off on time? Will it kick off at all? So many questions …
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Our team to face @OM_Officiel ⭐️#UCL pic.twitter.com/p0W4WNv578
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 7, 2022
Early team news ...
Bryan Gil and Lucas Moura are Antonio Conte’s only two injury concerns, in a state of affairs that is unlikely to have cost the Italian too much sleep last night seeing as neither of them would have started anyway. The Italian looks likely to pick Richarlison following his excellent performances off the bench so far this this season – who will miss out: Heung-min Son or Dejan Kulusevski?
With no academy graduates at their club, Marseille are only allowed register a limited number of players in their Champions League squad and manager Igor Tudor has left Cédric Bakambu, Isaak Touré and Bamba Dieng out after failing to offload them this summer.
Far from an automatic selection under Tudor, Dmitri Payet is available for selection tonight after recovering from an injury, while Luis Suarez (not that one) is expected to start up front in the absence through suspension of Alexis Sanchez, who is serving a ban he picked up while playing last season for Inter.
Key event
Group D: Tottenham Hotspur v Marseille
Cut loose from the Europa Conference League last season due in no small part to a Covid outbreak ripping through their squad, Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur find themselves back at the big boys’ table this season, having pippped their old friends Arsenal to fourth place in the table during the Premier League run-in.
In a group with Marseille, Eintracht Frankfurt and Sporting, Spurs will hugely fancy their chances of advancing to the knockout stages but may need to up their game despite being unbeaten in six top flight games already this season.
Tonight they face Marseille, who have won five and drawn one Ligue1 matches in the current campaign, and who in Matteo Guendouzi, Nuno Tavares and Alexis Sanchez boast three former Gooners in their squad. Kick-off at White Hart Lane is at 8pm (BST) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
