There was no shame in this defeat for Tottenham, which represented progress after the north London derby disaster at Arsenal on Sunday. There were measures of encouragement for the crucial Premier League home game against Fulham on Saturday, most notably in the shape of Randal Kolo Muani, the striker who is on loan from Paris Saint-Germain.
Kolo Muani set up Richarlison for 1-0 and scored with a stinging volley for 2-1. There would be another for him before this wild Champions League tie was over. They were his first in Spurs colours, a reminder to his parent club about his quality. After his move to PSG from Eintracht Frankfurt in 2023 for an initial €75m, he endured a difficult 18 months.
There was nevertheless frustration for Thomas Frank and his Spurs players, namely in how they allowed the initiative to slip, silly errors proving their undoing. Well, that and a guy called Vitinha. PSG’s ludicrously talented midfield controller was the star, finishing with a hat-trick.
Vitinha produced a pair of equalisers with long-range shots, the first a real jaw-dropper just before half-time, and it was him that set the seal on it all from the penalty spot. It added up to a fourth win out of five in the competition for the holders, even if there was an unwanted footnote in the shape of a stoppage-time red card for the substitute, Theo Hernández. He cleaned out the former PSG player, Xavi Simons, with an elbow. Simons had come on as a replacement.
Spurs competed, as Frank had demanded. They grew into the game as an attacking force, which was positive. It was just an irritation that they could not keep the back door bolted. Some of their defending was loose, to say the least, as they fell to a first defeat of the Champions League campaign.
All eyes had been on how Spurs lined up. Would Frank stick with a back five, one of the moves that had played so badly against Arsenal? The answer was no. He loaded his starting XI with four central midfielders and arranged them in a diamond at the outset, Archie Gray at the tip behind Kolo Muani and Richarlison.
It was another new setup from Frank, although flexibility was the watchword, Gray dropping deep out of possession, Lucas Bergvall pushing up when he could on the left. It felt significant that Frank’s No 1 midfielder, João Palhinha, started among the substitutes. Ditto the No 1 attacker, Mohammed Kudus. Did Frank have one eye on Fulham?
Vitinha was in the mood, wowing with the sharpness of his turns, the range of his passing. There was a deftness to his floated ball on 21 minutes that picked out the run of Warren Zaïre-Emery in behind the Spurs backline. The finish was confused.
Moments earlier, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had banged past the far post from distance but Spurs were comfortable in the first half. Frank’s midfielders brought the energy, the hard running and there was evidence that Spurs wanted to get up the pitch.
The breakthrough was such a tonic for Spurs – just as Vitinha’s equaliser was a sickener, especially in terms of the timing. It was Bergvall who ignited the move for 1-0 with a lovely flick for Gray, allowing him to cross from the left. Up went Kolo Muani, unmarked beyond the far post, and his header gave Richarlison the relatively simple task of nodding home his sixth of the season from close range. Kolo Muani was unaffected by having to wear a mask to protect his broken jaw.
Vitinha’s first was a beauty, yet another illustration of his technical brilliance. When PSG worked a corner short, the 18-year-old striker, Quentin Ndjantou – on his full Champions League debut – rolled square along the edge of the box. It was inviting. Vitinha unloaded first time with his right foot, the ball crashing in off the underside of the crossbar.
Spurs went back in front at the start of the second half, Kolo Muani returning a dramatic goalline clearance from Willian Pacho with interest, the connection on the volley so pure. The chance had been created when Richarlison headed Pedro Porro’s deep corner back inside for Gray to hook goalwards. Pacho thought he had saved the day. He had not.
It was PSG’s turn to respond. Again. Inevitably, it was Vitinha, who cut on to his left foot to shape a curler into the far corner. Luis Enrique would get his fit again Ballon d’Or winner, Ousmane Dembélé, on as a substitute towards the end. Frank said Vitinha would win the next Ballon d’Or.
Spurs cracked. The concessions for numbers three and four were grisly, self-inflicted wounds to the fore. Pape Sarr was robbed by Hernández after Spurs had tried to play out from the back, Cristian Romero putting his teammate into trouble. Seconds later, Fabián Ruiz had swept home. And how did Spurs not clear the corner for No 4? Sarr looked as though he had to do so but he could not. Pacho made him pay.
Kolo Muani’s goal for 4-3 was another clean finish after Rodrigo Bentancur had done the unthinkable and dispossessed Vitinha.
Frank was happy, saying he saw character and aggression in his team; a soul. But it was fitting that Vitinha completed the scoring. Romero leapt in to block a shot from him, doing so with a hand. When Vitinha addressed the penalty, the outcome was not in doubt.
