Antonio Conte celebrated wildly in the stands and Harry Kane danced for joy in the changing room after Tottenham’s 2-1 win at Marseille.
The Spurs boss was not on the touchline for the Champions League clash at the Stade Velodrome due to a ban and had to watch his team from afar come from behind to secure top spot in Group D.
Needing a draw to progress to the knockout stage, Tottenham faced an early exit when Chancel Mbemba opened the scoring for a dominant Marseille in first-half stoppage time.
But a much-improved Spurs equalised through Clement Lenglet after the break and won the group with the last kick of the game thanks to a stunning Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg strike.
The late drama also sent the Ligue 1 club from third to fourth, denying them a place in the Europa League.
So it was no surprise to see those surrounding Conte in the stands rather unimpressed as the Italian celebrated his team’s late winner.
And there was so much elation, even the usually composed Harry Kane was filmed dancing in the dressing room.
The England captain was filmed busting his best dad moves by teammate Emerson Royal afterwards…
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Conte’s tactics have been criticised in recent weeks and after coming from two goals behind to beat Bournemouth 3-2 on Saturday, Tottenham needed to dig deep once again after another slow start.
However, Spurs were without their manager on the touchline, as well as a number of key players due to injury, and lost Heung-min Son to a head injury early on.
That is why ex-midfielder O’Hara believes they deserve more credit.
O’Hara told talkSPORT: “It’s Spurs’ night. We’ve topped the group. We go through as group winners.
“It’s time to respect the team we put out. 95th minute winner. We dug out a performance.
“Unbelievable result again. No manager. Injuries. Down in the dumps. Hostile environment.
“And Spurs came through yet again to make it happen for Conte.
“Come on, give us some credit!”
However, ex-Premier League midfielder Andy Townsend warned Conte that his team will not go much further in the Champions League if they keep playing like they did in the first-half.
“I don’t know what to make of it,” Townsend told talkSPORT.
“At 1-0 down, with questions being asked, they’ve done it again, they’ve turned it around.
“You have to give them credit. Second-half, they were much better.
“But the other half of me is saying they were a shambles. They don’t know the best way to go about things.
“Why doesn’t Conte just take the reins off and let this team go at the opposition? If they do that, Tottenham could be something.”
Townsend added: “Tottenham have a very talented group of players and they are getting over the line by the skin of their teeth when they don’t need to.
“They are better than what they gave tonight. They got it done. Admirable? Yes.
“But I don’t see them going far enough if they play this way. If they hand teams a start, better teams will get beyond them.”
Speaking about the start, assistant head coach Cristian Stellini said: “It was very difficult the first half. In the difficulties we didn’t lose our minds. We stayed in the match. It was terrible the goal we conceded because from a corner they took it quickly and we were not prepared.
“It is an important lesson for the future. But in the second half something changed and we spoke in the dressing about the energy we need in the second half and the way we have to press them and counter the game.
“In this type of stadium and this type of match, a knockout, it is not very easy.
“The stadium was very hot in the first half and sometimes it is normal to give the possibility to the opponent to play, to use the energy you have in the second half. It could also be a strategy.
“We need to try to play all the 90 minutes in the same level.”
https://talksport.com/football/1234921/antonio-conte-celebration-harry-kane-jamie-ohara-tottenham-champions-league-marseille-spurs/
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