Tottenham Hotspur produced a commanding first-half performance to secure a 2-0 victory over 10-man Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League league phase, condemning Die Schwarzgelben to a ninth defeat in their last 11 visits to England.

With pressure mounting on head coach Thomas Frank, Spurs sought an early breakthrough and nearly found one through dangerous deliveries from Pedro Porro, though Daniel Svensson and Nico Schlotterbeck intervened to keep Dortmund level.

The breakthrough arrived in the 14th minute. After initially miscued his effort, Wilson Odobert recovered superbly to drive a low ball across the penalty area, where Cristian Romero met it first time with a composed finish to open the scoring.

Tottenham remained firmly in control thereafter, though Jobe Bellingham showed alertness at the back to divert Xavi Simons’ goal-bound effort behind for a corner. A moment of anxiety followed when Gregor Kobel’s long clearance almost released Karim Adeyemi, but Spurs soon gained further encouragement.

In the 26th minute, Dortmund’s task became significantly harder when Svensson was shown a straight red card for a reckless lunge on Odobert. From that point on, Frank’s side dictated proceedings, consistently exploiting the wide areas.

Their dominance was rewarded again before the interval. Odobert drove into the box and squared for Dominic Solanke, who bundled the ball in off the post with a combination of persistence and good fortune to double Tottenham’s lead.

Niko Kovač made a double substitution at the break in an attempt to spark a response, and Dortmund showed marginal improvement after the restart. Julian Ryerson sent a free-kick wide, while Waldemar Anton also failed to trouble the hosts with an off-target effort.

Tottenham suffered a setback shortly after the hour when Lucas Bergvall was forced off through injury, but the moment was softened by the introduction of 17-year-old Jun’ai Byfield, who became the club’s youngest-ever UEFA Champions League player on his debut.

Spurs continued to create chances, with Simons finding space in the Dortmund box only to see his shot pushed behind for a corner, from which Romero headed wide. Late on, Kobel denied Randal Kolo Muani, while Schlotterbeck saw one header drift wide and another tipped over as Dortmund pushed in vain.

The result saw Tottenham recover once again from domestic struggles to maintain a perfect home record in this season’s Champions League, moving up to fifth in the table ahead of Wednesday’s fixtures. In the process, they also ended Dortmund’s seven-game unbeaten run across all competitions, although the Bundesliga side remain 11th for now.