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By MATT BARLOW, FOOTBALL WRITER Published: 08: 59 AEDT, 29 January 2026 | Updated: 10: 21 AEDT, 29 January 2026 10 View comments Randal Kolo Muani hardly cut the figure of a Tottenham hero as he stood on the hard shoulder of M25 and inspected his damaged Ferrari Purosangue. It seemed like an image to encapsulate his season. The Spurs season, in fact. A front tyre had blown on the way to the airport, and he missed the team flight to Frankfurt along with Wilson Odobert who pulled over to help when he saw his teammate in trouble. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. With a wheel missing and air bags deployed, Kolo Muani had clearly had a very lucky escape and had Spurs not been in such desperate need of players they might have decided they could cope without him. He had scored only twice in his first 23 games of his loan spell from Paris Saint-Germain. He arrived lacking fitness, was disrupted by freakish injuries and has been flirting with a return to Juventus, where he finished last season in a flurry of goals. Spurs flew him out to Frankfurt though and Thomas Frank made him a surprise starter, whereupon he produced a brilliant performance and scored the goal to launch them into the last 16 of the Champions League. It was swept in from close range early in the second half after Cristian Romero had headed down a deep cross by Xavi Simons. Kolo Muani sank to his knees, raised his eyes and pointed to the heavens in prayer after his celebration with his teammates. Randal Kolo Muani was on target as Tottenham earned a place in the Champions League last-16 with a 2-0 victory over Frankfurt The French forward scored from close range following a free kick into the Frankfurt box Tottenham's progression to the last-16 will be a major boost for under pressure boss Thomas Frank Who could blame him? It has been quite a day or two for the France international, and it ended with Spurs for all their problems this season coasting into last 16 of the Champions League with 17 points from eight games. 'Seventeen points, fourth in group stage, six clean sheets, it’s very impressive, ' said Frank, giving the credit to his players and thanking the fans. 'The players have showed great character and mentality. We had 12 available players for Dortmund (last week) and this game and in both games the players stepped up. 'We were more or less in control tonight from beginning to end. We were quicker up the pitch. We still work on creating but we created a lot. The 3-4-3 also looked good in the last three games. In general, it is very positive and it is hugely important to be qualified for the last 16 with time to train. ' Dominic Solanke, who scored the only goal when Spurs beat Eintracht in Frankfurt in April to send Ange Postecoglou’s team into the last four of the Europa League, came on to score the second, punishing a misdirected header by Mahmoud Dahoud. But this night belonged to Kolo Muani. His only other goals in Spurs colours were two against parent club PSG in November, the only defeat of this league phase. Frank smiled: 'I said to him, "Please start scoring against clubs other than former clubs", that would be nice. ' Kolo Muani scored 26 goals in his one season with Eintracht before going on strike to force through a move to Paris. The home crowd had neither forgotten nor forgiven. His name was greeted with a tirade of boos and whistles when the teams were announced, as were his early touches and his exit in the 84th minute, but he looked in the mood from the second minute when his run and low cross spilled to Xavi Simons who found the net. Simons thought he had delivered a perfect start only to find it ruled out for a foul by Destiny Udogie, earlier in the move. Spurs complained but took encouragement from the fragility of Eintracht at the back. Dominic Solanke added a second for Tottenham to ease nerves in the closing stages Solanke punished Frankfurt as the Bundesliga side had pushed for an equalising goal Joao Palhinha forced a save from Kaua Santos with a header from a smart corner routine. Palhinha was deployed in an unfamiliar position on the right of a back three as Frank stuck with three centre halves and wing backs for a third successive game. Spurs controlled the game and yet a goal proved elusive in the first half. Udogie missed a header, Odobert fizzed a shot against a post and Simons could not capitalise on a mistake by goalkeeper Santos, who recovered to save with his feet. Then came a scare before the interval when Hugo Larsson burst clear and clipped the bar but Frank’s team returned in the second half to complete the job in mature style. Kolo Muani’s goal steadied them and Solanke ended German hope of a comeback. And those in the away applauded their team and their manager at the end. The draw might have been gentle but it has been a very solid league phase for Spurs and their boss who is coaching for the first time in this competition. One of Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Club Bruges or Galatasaray await, the details to be confirmed in Friday’s draw, but Frank’s reward is to forget about this competition until March and focus on the Premier League, starting with Manchester City on Sunday.

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