4 days ago
27
Thomas Frank found no warm embrace in the city of love. Only more pain and more punishment for Tottenham against another of the elite teams they hope to one day emulate.
On Sunday, at Arsenal, they suffered a four-goal mauling at the hands of the Premier League leaders. Here in, the French capital, they leaked five more against the mighty Paris Saint-Germain, the European champions.
There were more positives to be found for Tottenham at the Parc de Princes than there were in the North London derby. Here, they proved they could score goals. They fought hard throughout. And their fans stood to applaud their efforts at the end.
Frank will realise PSG, who finished with 10 men after Lucas Hernandez was sent off in stoppage time, can do this when they hit their stride. They fired seven past Bayer Leverkusen and four past Atalanta.
Even so, nine goals in four days is sure to sting. Certainly more than a first defeat in the Champions League, a competition where they should find enough points across fixtures against Slavia Prague, Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt to qualify for the knock out rounds.
Thomas Frank saw his Tottenham side beaten 5-3 by PSG to complete a painful few days
Vitinha scored a superb hat-trick for the holders, who showed their potency in front of goal
After Arsenal
Frank demanded a response from his players against the European champions after Sunday’s bruising defeat at Arsenal, when he accused them of lacking aggression and losing too many individual duels. His own response was to make five changes with teenagers Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray returning to the team.
Gray came into central midfield alongside Rodrigo Bentancur with what seemed to be instructions to lock onto Vitinha, their tempo-setter, where possible. It was another change of shape for Spurs, who started at Arsenal with a back five and abandoned it at half time to revert to their more usual 4231 system.
Here they lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with the two wide midfielders Pape Matar Sarr and Lucas Bergvall, who made his first appearance since a concussion injury against Chelsea, prepared to tuck inside behind the strikers and form a midfield box.
PSG took early possession of the ball and popped passes around. Luis Enrique had promised a very different game to the Super Cup, when his team had just returned from their summer holidays and struggled against the aerial bombardment by Spurs.
Here, Frank sat his back four deep and let the home team have the ball, looking to pounce on the counterattack, happy to go long from the back, all of which made for a fairly pedestrian opening half hour.
Fabian Ruiz and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia flashed early efforts wide and Warren Zaire-Emery, the young midfielder deputising at right-back with Achraf Hakimi out injured, advanced onto a pass clipped into the box by Vitinha. Guglielmo Vicario was alert to the danger on that occasion.
Lucas Bergvall came into the Tottenham team after Thomas Frank's call for more aggression
Archie Gray was another teenager added to Tottenham's starting line-up against the holders
Two up top
Tottenham's chief problem this season has been the goal threat from open play. Frank spoke about searching for the right formula on the eve of this game. He opted for two up front and although they had to be patient their moment came 10 minutes before half time.
Bergvall and Gray created an overload on the left. They are young and at times it shows but they do come with technical quality, and this was the first time Spurs truly carved PSG open. Gray on the run delivered a delightful cross with his left foot, met beyond the back post by Kolo Muani who headed the ball back and Richarlison nodded it into an open net from a matter of inches.
From the opposite end of the scale to his sensational strike from distance at Arsenal. They all count for the same, though and it was a sixth of the season for the Brazilian in club colours and his third in three. Of all the Spurs options up front, it is much-maligned Richarlison who remains most likely to score.
Tottenham’s set-piece is still valid and the second was a brilliant volley by Kolo Muani via a well-worked corner. Pedro Porro’s deep delivery was headed back by Richarlison and Gray hooked it past goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier on the volley. Willian Pacho cleared off the line via the bar and Kolo Muani smashed it back into the net with force. Marquinhos could not stop it going in. On loan from PSG.
Kolo Muani did not celebrate his first Spurs goal or his second, lashed in after a mistake by Vitinha to drag the score back to 4-3.
Frank's decision to play two up front led to Randal Kolo Muani setting up Richarlison's opener
Kolo Muani fired in a brilliant volley following a corner at Spurs briefly retook the lead
Vintiha scored two stunning efforts from the edge of the box to cancel out Tottenham leads
The midfielder completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot to ensure PSG's victory
Parisien style
Enrique’s team is packed with quality, and they find ways to make it count. Twice Vintiha, with two brilliant, precision finishes, one with each foot, from the fringes of the penalty area, the sort of range from which Eberechi Eze punished Spurs.
Spurs had given few chances to the PSG press, but mistake crept in as they tired and the hosts threw more players forward. They were caught out making careless passes at the back for the third, scored by Fabian Ruiz. Then failed to defend a corner as Pacho scored the fourth.
Vitinha’s hat-trick came from a penalty awarded for handball against Cristian Romero and then PSG sent on Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele and Goncalo Ramos. C’est la vie as they say in this arrondissement.
