Conte’s unlikely hero and Bentancur finds new role as Tottenham win

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte called on unlikely hero Clement Lenglet on Tuesday evening as the Lilywhites edged to a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Marseille to progress to the Champions League knockout stages. Spurs were under the cosh in the first half but Rodrigo Bentancur flourished in a new role after the break to help drag his side back into the game. With that said, Express Sport brings you five things we learned from a gripping encounter…Marseille fans almost play pivotal partHome supporters set about their mission of giving Marseille the best possible chance of victory in the small hours of Tuesday morning. Fireworks were supposedly let off outside Tottenham’s team hotel at around 4am to ensure they went into the tie fatigued. The next phase of the cunning plan was to create a raucous, electric, hostile atmosphere inside the Stade Velodrome. Indeed, Spurs started the game like a flustered side and it wasn’t until the second half that they began to find their feet.  Antonio Conte watched from the stands as Tottenham drew with Marseille (Image: GETTY)Bentancur flourishes in new roleTottenham were forced to get creative after Heung-min Son stumbled off the pitch with a head injury. In order to link midfield with attack, the Lilywhites instructed Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Yves Bissouma to sit in while allowing Rodrigo Bentancur to roam forward in an unfamiliar attacking midfield role. It’s safe to say that the Uruguayan showed a different side to his game in Marseille. Normally a composed presence and a metronomic passer, Bentancur had an extra spring in his step and ran tirelessly to try and force the visitors up the pitch.Attacking blushes spared by unlikely heroFor the majority of the game, it appeared as though Spurs had got their attacking tactics wrong. Harry Kane cut an isolated figure up top, which was to be expected with injuries to Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski and only got worse when Son went off injured. The England captain had no usual suspects to bonce off and was often left to try and orchestrate attacks on his own until Bentancur was let loose. All of that was forgotten when Conte’s side were bailed out by an unlikely hero, however, as Clement Lenglet popped up with a crucial second-half header to tip the scales. Tottenham get last laugh over Arsenal alumniMarseille star Alexis Sanchez spoke openly this week about how he would love to get one over on Spurs for his old club, Arsenal. Former Gunners Matteo Guendouzi and Sead Kolasinac, as well as loan star Nuno Tavares will also have been keen to come out on the winning side but it was the white-shirted half of north London that came out smiling on Tuesday. Tavares made a good start to the game, drawing a foul from Ryan Sessegnon before setting up a chance for Sanchez. The Chilean, meanwhile, was Marseille’s dangerman on the night and very nearly sparked scenes of bedlam with a close-range effort that was blocked by Ivan Perisic.