Tottenham group win proved doubters wrong, says Kane

Reuters: Tottenham Hotspur’s qualification to the Champions League knockout stages as group winners has proved doubters wrong, striker Harry Kane said after the London side’s 2-1 win over Borrusia Dortmund on Tuesday.

Tottenham were expected struggle in a tough Group H that contained holders Real Madrid and 2013 finalists Dortmund but the London side have progressed to the knockout stages unbeaten with four wins and a draw after five of six fixtures.

“The group we had, a lot of people doubted us and we wanted to prove them wrong,” Kane, who scored the equaliser in Tuesday’s game, told reporters after the match. “Hopefully we can build on this now for the rest of the campaign.” Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino praised his team and compared this season’s tough draw to last year‘s, when Spurs dropped to the Europa League after failing to progress from a group consisting of AS Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen and CSKA Moscow.

Pochettino also said that the win in Dortmund was a good response to last weekend’s 2-0 defeat by local rivals Arsenal in the Premier League. “The reaction after Saturday was perfect,” Pochettino told BT Sport. “The team stepped up and after Saturday, we were ready to compete here in a difficult game against a difficult team and we are so proud.” Tottenham, who are fourth in the Premier League, host bottom side APOEL Nicosia in their final Group H game in December with their immediate attention turning to Saturday’s league fixture against 17th-placed West Bromwich Albion.

Sterling strike earns top spot for City

Reuters: Manchester City secured top spot in Group F with a 1-0 win over Feyenoord at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, making it five wins out of five for Pep Guardiola’s side.

City, who were already assured of a place in the last 16, fielded a surprisingly strong line-up but struggled to find the kind of fluency that has characterised their peformances this season.

But two minutes from the end, Raheem Sterling grabbed the winner, slotting home after a smart exchange of passes with Ilkay Gundogan.

Sam Larsson had earlier twice gone close for Feyenoord while Guardiola gave debuts to teenagers Phil Foden and Brahim Diaz from the bench.