Tottenham Hotspur completed an achievement no-one gave them the slightest chance of doing last night, winning their Champions League group with one game left to spare, and that one the easiest of the six. Here at Signal Iduna Park they beat Borussia Dortmund for the second time in this phase which, combined with the four points they took from Real Madrid, means that they cannot be caught at the top of Group H. Whatever happens when APOEL Nicosia come to Wembley on 6 December.

Think back to last season’s group phase when, faced with an easier group of Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen and CSKA Moscow, Spurs looked callow and, at times, clueless, and crashed into the Europa League. Now, when the Champions League last-16 draw is made on 11 December, they will be among the seeds. Of course they could still draw a top team and they could still lose, but it is an achievement in itself. And it is an unambiguous sign of how far Spurs are still improving and learning in this, the fourth year of Mauricio Pochettino’s management of the club.

Ultimately that record matters even more than the result here, a 2-1 win a lively, high quality but ultimately low-tension game at the Westfalenstadion, in which Spurs showed bottle and skill to come back from 1-0 down and take control of the game and win it. Dortmund have their own problems, having taken just one point in their last five Bundesliga games, a record raising serious questions about Peter Bosz’s reign at the club. But they are still a dangerous side with good players, not least Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Andriy Yarmolenko in their front line, who caused Spurs problems from the very start.

First Yarmolenko tested Hugo Lloris from the edge of the box, then Aubameyang raced onto a through ball, beating the offside trap, but stabbing his finish just wide. Spurs had been warned but there was nothing they could do to stop the opening goal, on 30 minutes. Raphael Guerreiro darted a pass to Yarmolenko. He back-heeled it into Aubameyang’s path, as he ran in behind. Before Lloris could react, the ball was in the net.

Spurs, with Kane and Son Heung-Min up front, were trying to go long but could not find their range for their direct game. Eric Dier’s long diagonals are not as good as Toby Alderweireld’s, unfortunately for Spurs. It was only in the final few minutes of the half that they tested Roman Burki. First with an Eriksen shot from a Danny Rose cross, then an Eric Dier head from a corner. They just needed to be more precise.

Dortmund took the lead (Getty)

But who better to provide it than the most precise finisher in the game? Spurs were level just four minutes into the second half. Dele Alli cut in from the left and rolled a pass to Kane, loitering just outside the Dortmund box. He got the ball out from his feet and stroked it into the near bottom corner, his signature finish. It was his first Spurs goal for a month, a drought by his special standards.

The draw was no use to either side, though, and Spurs went up a gear once they had the win in their sights. Winks asserted his control on midfield, playing just as well as he did at the Santiago Bernabeu, even against opponents as good as Julian Weigl and Mario Goetze. Alli, galloping on the break, waited just too long before sliding a pass through to Son. A wonderful team move ended with Rose, still lacking match sharpness, mis-timing a cross.

But Spurs continued to push and their tirelessness was rewarded with the winner, 14 minutes from the end. Alli has a gift for making things happen from nowhere and he wriggled through two tackles, holding off Marc Bartra as he made his way into the box. Swarmed by defenders, Alli still found Son just inside the box. His first touch controlled the ball, his second put it in the top corner.

Kane got Tottenham back onto level terms (Getty)