Sporting Lisbon 2 Tottenham 0: Spurs COLLAPSE and concede two in injury time to lose first match since April
IT was a brutal way to end Tottenham’s unbeaten run this season but not wholly unexpected.
Spurs may have begun the campaign with five wins and two draws from their opening seven games, but performances have largely been workmanlike rather than spectacular.
For that reason, a result like this always felt like it could be on the cards and so it proved, albeit in dramatic circumstances.
Fellow subs Paulinho and Arthur Gomes did the damage in stoppage time with the former heading in a corner and the latter producing a fine solo goal to send the Estadio Jose Alvalade potty.
Antonio Conte could do little more than slump his hands in his pockets after seeing a stalemate snatched away at the death.
But arguably Sporting deserved it with Tottenham old-boy Marcus Edwards at times looking electric in a game otherwise lacking a spark – until the very end.
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Edwards was once compared to Lionel Messi by Mauricio Pochettino when the pair were still at Tottenham and the 23-year-old almost produced a goal worthy of the Argentine genius in first-half stoppage time.
While the mystery surrounding Son Heung-min’s barren start to the campaign continued as the South Korean made it eight games without a goal now.
Last season’s joint-winner of the Premier League Golden Boot claimed last week that he was not worrying about his drought because he was still getting chances.
But last night he did not have a single shot before trudging off in the 72nd minute to be replaced by Dejan Kulusevski.
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Conte is desperate for one half of his dynamic duo up top – along with Harry Kane – to break his campaign duck soon.
Yet with displays like this, it would not be unfair on the 30-year-old to see him start Saturday’s home game against Leicester on the bench.
Spurs players wore black armbands to mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, while there was a reasonably well-observed minute’s silence before kick-off in Her Majesty’s honour as well.
Sporting boss Ruben Amorim talked up Edwards before the game, even tipping him to play for England one day.
And it came via the talented 23-year-old, who left Tottenham on a free in 2019, that the first opportunity of the game arose.
Edwards burst away down the middle and prodded it wide to highly-rated Pedro Goncalves – previously of Wolves – whose effort was heading to the far corner before Hugo Lloris pushed it wide.
On 25 minutes Richarlison wasted a decent chance, by his standards, as he nodded Ivan Perisic’s cross down into the ground, allowing the keeper to claim it easily.
Given it was the Brazilian who had won last week’s Champions League opener at home to Marseille with two bullet headers, he probably should have done better.
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At the end of the first half came Edwards’ thrilling moment.
Edwards said Pochettino was just being “nice” when discussing his Messi comparison in an interview this week – but his mazy run in stoppage time had all the hallmarks of a classic Messi dribble.
The forward picked up the ball midway through Spurs’ half, brushed off not one but two challenges from Sporting academy product Eric Dier and then another from Perisic.
Playing a one-two with Francisco Trincao as he burst into the box, Edwards held off another failed tackle from Cristian Romero but was denied a stunning goal when Lloris pushed wide his close-range poke.
Spurs came out for the second half looking to up the ante, and they came close to a breakthrough with a flurry of early chances.
Emerson Royal had two of them, heading Kane’s excellent cross into the ground a la Richarlison, then failing to beat Sporting keeper Antonio Adan when played through by Kane’s clever, quick free-kick.
Richarlison then fired another effort wide but after that Spurs’ final ball seemed to desert them, winding up Conte on the touchline.
Though that could not be said for Perisic’s wicked delivery with 20 minutes to go which was almost too good as it fizzed across the six-yard box, catching Kane by surprise as he failed to get on the end of it.
Lloris was probably Spurs’ best player on the night and he looked to have saved them when tipping wide a goalbound shot from former Manchester City wing-back Pedro Porro late on.
Yet from the resulting corner, sub Paulinho got in front of both Royal and Kane to flick into the far corner.
Amazingly, there was still time for another goal and from Gomes, who was only introduced after the breakthrough.
He picked it up on the left, breezed past the flailing Spurs’ backline and found the corner.
It was an infuriating way to lose it.
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But perhaps it can serve as a reminder to anyone getting carried away with Spurs’ early-season results that they are by no means the finished article.
When Son finally gets on his shooting boots and the new signings fully adapt to Conte’s methods, then it may well be a different story.