Jan the Man as Spurs down Dortmund

Defender Jan Vertonghen put on a man-of-the-match display as Tottenham Hotspur defeated Borussia Dortmund 3-0 in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 at the Wembley Stadium.

Son Heung-min scored the first goal (47′) for Mauricio Pochettino’s side and his intelligent forward play set the tone for the rest of the match.

Jan Vertonghen, a revelation in his left wing-back role, scored their second (83′) with a sublime volley having already assisted Son for the opener, and finally, substitute Fernando Llorente headed in a corner (86′) to put Spurs in a commanding position ahead of their second leg at the Signal Iduna Park.

Meanwhile, in the other Champions League Round of 16 match, substitute Marco Asensio scored a late winner (87′) as defending champions Real Madrid edged Ajax 2-1 at the Johan Cruyff Arena.

The Dutch side dominated proceedings in the first half and looked to have struck the first blow, only to have the video assistant referee (VAR) rule out Nicolas Tagliafico’s 37th minute header because teammate Dusan Tadic was in an offside position. It was the first time VAR had been used to disallow a goal in the competition.

Ajax appeared to be on course for a draw when Hakim Ziyech shot under Thibaut Courtois in the 75th minute to cancel out Karim Benzema’s opener 15 minutes earlier.