With pressure mounting on boss Thomas Frank, he would have been desperate for a quick start and they almost had it through threatening balls from Pedro Porro, although they were stopped by Daniel Svensson and Nico Schlotterbeck respectively.
The hosts weren’t to be denied in the 14th minute though, as Wilson Odobert recovered from making a mess of his attempted shot by fizzing the ball across for Cristian Romero to apply a clinical first-time finish.
The hosts remained firmly on top after taking the lead, but Jobe Bellingham nipped in to deflect Xavi Simons’ shot behind.
Gregor Kobel’s long ball almost released Karim Adeyemi provided a nervy moment for Spurs, yet they were offered further encouragement in the 26th minute when Svensson was sent off for a lunge on Odobert.
Frank’s side retained control and continued to create problems for Die Schwarzgelben from wide areas as they went on to double their lead before half-time.
Odobert broke into the box and squared the ball for Dominic Solanke, who bundled the ball in off the post with three touches and a slice of fortune.
Niko Kovac responded with a double change ahead of the restart and his side showed an improvement, although Julian Ryerson fired wide from a free-kick.
While Waldemar Anton also struck harmlessly off-target, there was a blow for the hosts shortly after the hour mark with Lucas Bergvall being forced off due to injury, although that did allow 17-year-old Jun’ai Byfield to come on for his debut and become Spurs’ youngest-ever UCL player.
Simons then found enough space in the visitors’ box to let off a strike that was palmed behind for a corner that resulted in Romero heading wide.
Kobel did enough to stop Randal Kolo Muani late on, but Schlotterbeck sent one header off-target and saw another tipped over as Spurs once again recovered from their torrid domestic form to maintain a perfect record in home UCL matches this term and jump up to fifth in the table ahead of Wednesday’s fixtures.
In doing so, they also ended Dortmund’s seven-game unbeaten run across all competitions, although the Bundesliga side sit 11th for now.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Xavi Simons (Tottenham Hotspur)
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