Hugo Lloris gave the Tottenham Hotspur mascot his jacket as they prepared to walk out against Crystal Palace in a heartwarming gesture.
Antonio Conte and Patrick Vieira went head-to-head in the respective dugouts in their second fixture of 2023. Both sides had conflicting starts to the calendar year as Aston Villa inflicted defeat on Spurs with Palace winning 2-0 against Bournemouth.
It was an important night at Selhurst Park for the north London side. Due to recent results, they had slipped outside the top four with Manchester United leapfrogging them into the final Champions League space.
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Lloris was ever-present for Spurs in the Premier League up until the return following the World Cup and missed the 2-2 draw with Brentford as he'd only recently returned from Qatar. The 36-year-old couldn't captain France to consecutive triumphs in the tournament, losing on penalties to Argentina despite Kylian Mbappe's hat-trick.
Fraser Forster deputised against the Bees but the Spurs skipper returned for Sunday's defeat to Unai Emery's side and was named in the starting line-up for Wednesday night's encounter.
It might have gone unnoticed but as his teammates lined-up to go out for kick-off, Lloris was seen comforting the young mascot and as they entered the field of play, he can be seen draped in a white Tottenham tracksuit.
France's number one had come in for criticism in the aftermath of their defeat to Villa. But he showed no hangover as he made a vital reflex save in the first-half to deny Jordan Ayew after the Ghanaian spun and fired low from 18 yards.
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