CL: Juventus stun Tottenham 2-1 as Dybala caps fightback

Tottenham Hotspurs Belgian midfielder Mousa Dembele L Tottenham Hotspurs French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris 2nd L Tottenham Hotspurs Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen and Tottenham Hotspurs Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen R react to their defeat on the pitch after the UEFA Champions League round of sixteen second leg football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus at Wembley Stadium in London PicAFPJuventus staged a stunning fightback against Tottenham to reach the Champions League quarterfinals 43 on aggregate after Paulo Dybala sealed a dramatic 21 win in the last 16 second leg on Wednesday Massimiliano Allegris side were on the brink of elimination after Son HeungMins firsthalf strike put Tottenham ahead at Wembley But despite being completely outplayed in the opening period Juventus buckled down after the break and equalised through Gonzalo Higuain That was the decisive moment as Tottenham suddenly went to pieces allowing the Italian champions to score again two minutes and 49 seconds later as Dybala punished poor defending with a cool finishIt was an epic escape act from Juventus who remain on course to reach a third Champions League final in four seasons after twice finishing as runnersup The twotime European champions have enjoyed some memorable moments in the competition but coming back from the brink against such inform opposition will rank as one of their finest hours Crashing out after having the tie in their hands was a bitter pill for Tottenham to swallow and once again raised questions about their ability to win major trophies Mauricio Pochettinos men had put Real Madrid Liverpool Manchester United and Arsenal to the sword at Wembley this season producing eyecatching displays that their manager claimed had earned them the respect of Europes superpowersBut Tottenhams frustrating tradition of hitting a high note before receiving a painful reality check returned to haunt them in the most painful fashion Pochettino had spoken this week about how he dreamed of leading the team to silverware Instead Juventus turned Pochettinos evening into a nightmare Tottenham were in control early on and Harry Kane tricked two Juventus defenders with a muscular turn before feeding Son whose low strike was repelled by Gianluigi Buffon Despite a torrid opening Juventus felt they should have had a penalty when Douglas Costa surged away from Jan Vertonghen But when Vertonghens challenge sent the Juventus winger crashing to the turf referee Szymon Marciniak controversially waved play on Still seething over that decision Juventus were ragged at the back when Son forced Buffon to palm out his header from Kieran Trippiers crossGreat escapeSon was fuming after being stamped on by Andrea Barzagli and determined to exact retribution he embarked on a powerful run that ended with a shot that flashed narrowly wide He didnt have to wait long for the ultimate revenge as Son put Tottenham ahead in the 39th minute The South Korea forward has a knack of scoring at Wembley but few will have been more fortuitous than his 14th goal at Tottenhams temporary home When Trippier whipped a low cross towards the far post Son got his feet in a tangle and miscued his shot onto his standing left leg with the deflection somehow lifting the ball over Buffon and into the net Having got their reward for bossing the game Tottenham were nearly punished when Miralem Pjanic smashed just wide before halftime That escape foreshadowed the anguish to come for Tottenham So poor in the first half Juventus showed more far desire and drive after the intervalThey nearly equalised when Argentine forward Dybala fired over after sloppy Tottenham defending gifted him a sight of goal It was a warning Tottenham failed to heed and the visitors drew level in the 64th minute with their first effort on target Stephan Lichtsteiner crossed to Sami Khedira and when he flicked towards Higuain the Argentine striker perfectly timed his run past the statuesque Spurs defence and headed home with ease For the first time all night Tottenham were anxious and Juventus went for the kill three minutes later Higuains pass dissected Tottenhams poorlyexecuted offside trap and Dybala ran through to drill a cool finish past Hugh Lloris Tottenham laid siege to the Juventus goal in the final stages but the visitors defended heroically and rode their luck when Kanes header hit a post before being scooped off the line by BarzagliCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever