Richarlison double sinks 10-man Marseille - on-the-whistle report

Richarlison’s first Spurs goals gave us the perfect start to our Champions League Group D campaign as he scored a second-half brace against Marseille at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday night.

After the visitors lost Chancel Mbemba to a red card for a last-man challenge on Heung-Min Son early in the second half, we eventually made the advantage in numbers pay dividends when our Brazilian forward – making his debut in the competition – powered home two headers in a five-minute spell to settle the contest.

As the Champions League anthem blared out and the atmosphere cranked up, kick-off was greeted with a wave of enthusiasm but in truth, the first half didn’t live up to expectations. It wasn’t until first-half stoppage time that the game’s first shot on target arrived, Matteo Guendouzi’s 25-yard drive saved low down by Hugo Lloris.

Two minutes after the break though, the game changed. Harry Kane sent Son racing away, he got to the ball ahead of Mbemba who brought him down with a sliding challenge and Slovenian referee Tomaz Klancnik had no hesitation in pulling out his red card for the former Newcastle United defender.

Momentum shifted completely in our favour and we dominated possession although, for much of the second period, it was all in front of the Marseille defence and chances were hard to come by. There was a moment of concern at the other end in the 74th minute when Sead Kolasinac’s low ball into the box almost fell to Amine Harit but we cleared our lines and two minutes later, we finally broke through. In the end, it was as straightforward as it comes, Ivan Perisic floating a cross into the area and Richarlison heading home unmarked from eight yards out.

No sooner had he opened his Spurs account than the summer signing from Everton added his second, again a super header in off the post from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s cross with nine minutes left, giving us – and him – the perfect start in the Champions League.

'It was really tough'

Antonio Conte told SPURSPLAY after the game: “It was really tough, but we knew this and when we started to prepare the game through the video, also on the pitch, we understood very well that the game would be really tough. We are talking about a team that is very strong physically, they go man to man and try to win every duel. I think the first half we struggled a bit in these types of duels and maybe only once we kept the ball and attacked the space and shot with Harry. The second half we did this much better, started very well with this type of situation, Sonny attacked the space, and it was a red card. The game changed. After this, we created chances."

Reaction on SPURSPLAY

Match data

Goals: Spurs – Richarlison 76, 81.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Dier, Son; Marseille – Bailly, Clauss.

Red card: Marseille - Mbemba.

Referee: Tomaz Klancnik (Slovenia).

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Weather: Light cloud, gentle breeze, 15 degrees.

Attendance: 57,367.