Tottenham reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2011, and only the second time in their history, with a 1-0 win at Borussia Dortmund, to progress 4-0 on aggregate.

After weathering the Dortmund storm in the first half, during which Hugo Lloris produced a string of fine saves, Harry Kane finished brilliantly from Moussa Sissoko's pass to become the club's outright top-scorer in Europe with 24 goals.

Dan Kilpatrick was at the Signal Iduna Park to provide analysis for Standard Sport.

Quarter-final shows progress

As Tottenham limp a little towards another top-three finish in the Premier League, it has become difficult to measure their progress under Mauricio Pochettino – particularly without a new signing for over a year.

But a magnificent performance against Dortmund over two legs of the Champions League last-16 provided clear evidence that Pochettino's side continue to improve. Most impressive, as they reached a first Champions League quarter-final since 2011, was Tottenham’s doggedness and professionalism against a more experienced club at this level.

After picking off the Bundesliga leaders superbly at Wembley, Spurs produced a heroic backs-to-the-wall defensive performance but still found a way to win through Kane’s brilliant finish.

It showed they have learnt from last season's defeat to Juventus at this stage – when they played better but were less savvy. Spurs may have been a slicker team on paper two years ago, when Kyle Walker and a fully-fit Danny Rose were bombing forward and Mousa Dembele was controlling the midfield, but they would not have been able to produce two such mature performances.

Captain’s performance from Tottenham’s human wall

Just when you thought Hugo Lloris was out, he pulls you back in!

Opposite Dortmund’s infamous ‘Yellow Wall’, the goalkeeper was Tottenham’s human wall in the first half, making a string of fine saves to frustrated the hosts – particularly blocks to deny Julian Weigl and Raphael Guerreiro in a two-minute spell.

Some supporters have lost confidence in Lloris this season amid a string of errors, the latest in last week’s 2-0 defeat at Chelsea, where he was arguably at fault for both goals.

His response, however, has been magnificent as he saved Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s penalty to earn a precious point on Saturday before this performance in Germany.

Before the match, Pochettino insisted his players had ‘a World Cup-winning mentality’. Lloris is their only World Cup winner and he proved his manager’s point with a captain’s performance.

Defensive masterclass paves way for victory

It was not just Lloris who was magnificent in the Spurs rearguard.

After a week in which they conceded sloppy goals against Burnley, Chelsea and Arsenal, the back-five of Serge Aurier, Toby Alderweireld, Davinson Sanchez, Jan Vertonghen and Ben Davies made a series of body-on-the-line blocks.

A last-ditch tackle by Vertonghen to dispossess Marco Reus after 10 minutes felt particularly important, perhaps even more so than his tackle on Aubameyang at Wembley on Saturday. More impressive than any individual acts of heroism was Spurs’ willingness to defend as a coherent, committed unit, however.

Midway through the first half, Son dropped deep to leave the visitors in a 5-4-1 system and although Dortmund chances kept coming the visitors grew in confidence as the first half progressed, finishing it with an important spell of possession. This laid the foundations for Kane’s sucker-punch.

Sissoko underlines transformation

We’ve known it for a while but Moussa Sissoko underlined his remarkable transformation from Tottenham misfit to leading man with another superb display.

Faced with a slick Dortmund midfield boasting Marco Reus and Mario Gotze, Sissoko never stopped running, tackling, hassling, harrying. He even finished with a rare assist for a fine pass to Kane.

Kane and Heung-Min Son are strong contenders but it is getting hard to look past Sissoko as the club’s player of the year.

Dier returns but Winks injury a concern

There was good news and bad news for Tottenham in midfield, as Eric Dier returned from a spell of illness, replacing Harry Winks.

Dier has played just one minute since late January due to the removal of various non-vital organs but he came through most of the second half unscathed here.

His return adds bite to a Spurs midfield which has been running on empty for months – underlined when Winks limped out, presumably with a recurrence of the hip problem which ruled him out against Arsenal on Saturday.

The England international has a history of long-term injuries but Spurs do not have a game for two-and-a-half weeks after Saturday's visit to Southampton, which should give him time to recover.