Tottenham 2-0 Marseille: Richarlison brace secures win over ten men as Spurs return

Richarlison's first goals for Tottenham saw them mark their return to the Champions League with a 2-0 victory over Marseille at 10.

The summer signing scored two headers in the space of five minutes in the second half to put Spurs out of trouble in their Group D opener.

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Playing at the highest level for the first time since 2020, Antonio Conte's men struggled against the Ligue 1 side, who had Chancel Mbemba sent off at the start of the second half.

But Richarlison, making his Champions League debut, opened his account for the club in the 76th minute from an Ivan Perisic cross, then repeated the trick to kill the game with a delivery from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

His brace gave Spurs a successful start to their campaign in an otherwise largely difficult round of action for British teams.

After appearing in the 2019 final, Spurs had been banished to the backwaters of European football, with a Europa League campaign followed by an inauspicious exit to the group stage of the premier Europa Conference League last season .

Conte had brought them back at the big time, but their first-half performance hardly suited the top-flight club competition.

Spurs were sloppy in possession and lacked creativity in a lackluster 45-minute opener.

Marseille, who were also in the Conference League last season and had former midfielder Joey Barton to back them up away from home, were hardly of the caliber of their 1993 team that won that competition, but pressed hard and muffled the front three of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Richarlison.

It wasn't until the 40th minute that the trio were able to combine and it ended with a rare goal sight from Kane.

Clever footwork from Richarlison saw him play against Son and the South Korean fed Kane, but he rolled his shot well away from the far post.

Matteo Guendouzi, constantly reminded of his past allegiance to Arsenal by home fans, had managed the midfielder for the French side and he forced Hugo Lloris into a smart save with a low drive just before the break as Spurs were booed at half-time.

The hosts were given a tonic two minutes after the restart as the French squad were reduced to 10 men.

Kane sent Son clear and after reaching the ball first he was mowed down by Mbemba, who received a direct red card from referee Slavko Vincic.

The decision actually worked against Spurs as Marseille switched to a more defensive formation and sat behind the ball, putting the blame on Conte's side to try and break them down.

The introduction of Dejan Kulusevski helped the Swede launch into a spirited run down the right which ended with his shot being saved by former Spurs loanee Pau Lopez.

It seemed like a frustrating night until Richarlison picked a great moment to smash his Spurs duck in the 76th minute.

Perisic found space down the left and sent a delicious cross past the former Everton striker to plant a header into the back of the net.

He got his second five minutes later as Hojbjerg's cross from a recycled corner was sent wide off the post to give Spurs their first win in this competition since beating Olympiacos 4- 2 in Jose Mourinho's home debut in November 2019.