Tottenham Hotspur's hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League have taken a significant blow courtesy of a 1-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in their Group E clash at Wembley this evening.
Kevin Kampl scored the only goal of the game for the visitors as they climbed above Tottenham into second, leaving Spurs with two defeats from two at Wembley in the Champions League this season.
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Leverkusen arrived at the national stadium having failed to win any of their previous eight visits to England in the Champions League, but it was the German outfit who made the brighter start as they hounded Spurs with some high pressing that forced sloppy errors from the hosts.
Roger Schmidt's side were unable to capitalise on those mistakes, though, and clear chances were few and far between throughout the first half as Tottenham in particular struggled to get going in attack.
It was the hosts who had the only shot on target of the opening 45 minutes when Christian Eriksen was allowed to carry the ball forward by a retreating defence, but his subsequent effort was straight at Bernd Leno, who pushed the powerful strike away.
Spurs were fortunate not to go in behind, though, as Leverkusen squandered comfortably the best chance of the first half with just two minutes remaining until the interval.
Kyle Walker's mistake almost allowed Julian Brandt to get a shot away, but Jan Vertonghen produced a last-ditch challenge to deny the midfielder before getting a crucial touch to Javier Hernandez's follow-up effort as it skimmed inches past the post with Hugo Lloris beaten.
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A shaky first-half display from the hosts was compounded on the half-hour mark when Mousa Dembele was forced off through injury, just days before Spurs travel to take on Arsenal in the North London derby.
Mauricio Pochettino's side came out stronger in the second half, though, and could have taken the lead inside three minutes of the restart when Eriksen fired a low strike inches past the post seconds after Dele Alli had seen a strong penalty shout turned down by referee Jonas Eriksson.
Eriksen sent another long-range strike straight at the keeper 10 minutes into the half before Walker almost atoned for his earlier defensive errors by bursting into the box and sending a low drive narrowly past the far post.
Leverkusen responded with a chance of their own just a minute later, though, and once again it stemmed from a defensive mistake as Eric Dier was caught in possession by Admir Mehmedi, who in turn pulled the ball back for Hernandez, only for the former Manchester United striker to be denied by Vertonghen and then Lloris.
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The deadlock was finally broken with 25 minutes remaining, though, and having ridden their luck to stay in the match Spurs were undone by an unfortunate deflection as Charles Aranguiz's strike deflected off two players and into the path of Kampl, who made no mistake from close range for his first goal of the season.
Spurs struggled to respond to falling behind, but came within inches of levelling things up with only seven minutes remaining when Dier almost marked his 100th appearance for the club with a stunning free kick, only to see his effort cannon against the crossbar with Leno beaten.
Ben Davies dragged another long-range shot wide of the target moments later as Tottenham's desperation increased, but Leverkusen were able to hold out and record their first ever Champions League victory on English soil to move second in Group E.
Spurs, meanwhile, now sit two points behind the German outfit following a sixth consecutive defeat at Wembley, while their winless run in all competitions now stretches back six games and more than a month.
Pochettino's side have also failed to score from open play in their last five outings heading into Sunday's North London derby against Arsenal.
Barney Corkhill
