New Delhi: Tottenham Hotspur squandered a two-goal lead inside 15 minutes as reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) made an epic late comeback to clinch their maiden UEFA Super Cup title at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine, Italy, on Thursday.
PSG beat Spurs 4-3 on penalties after their substitutes Lee Kang-in and Goncalo Ramos scored two late goals to take the Super Cup tie into extra time.
Tottenham seemed on their way to lifting their first major trophy under new manager Thomas Frank as they were leading 2-0 after 84 minutes and were minutes away from victory. However, Lee and Ramos came to the rescue of the European champions. Lee Kang-in scored in the 85th minute to pull one back for PSG before Ramos headed the equaliser in the 94th minute to force the game into extra time.
The final was decided on penalties after both teams failed to find the back of the net in the extra time. Though PSG ended up missing their first penalty after Vitiniha put his spot kick wide, they ended up clinching the Super Cup after Van de Ven and Mathys Tel missed their penalties for Tottenham. While Chevalier’s penalty was saved by PSG’s new goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier, Tel blasted his shot way off the mark.
Ramos, who equalised for PSG in the injury time, scored the first penalty for his side in the shootout before Ousmane Dembele, Lee, and Nuno Mendes converted their shots from the spot. Dominic Solanke, Rodrigo Bentancur and Pedro Porro scored for Spurs in the penalty shootout, but their efforts went in vain as the Europa League champions ended up losing 4-3 after misses from Van de Ven and Tel.
Van de Ven put PSG ahead in the contest when he scored from a rebound after Chevalier managed to tip Joao Palhinha’s shot onto the crossbar in the 39th minute. Spurs doubled their lead immediately after the break when newly-appointed captain Christian Romero beat Chevalier with his header on a free-kick from Pedro Porro.
Spurs defended resiliently to keep their two-goal lead intact till the 84th minute. However, Lee Kang-in gave PSG the hope of a late comeback when he scored a stunner from 20 yards to make it 2-1. Minutes later, Ramos’ header in the injury time saw PSG equalise 2-2 as the final went into extra time.
Gianluigi Donnarumma bids farewell to PSG
Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was left out of PSG’s UEFA Super Cup final squad against Tottenham, bid farewell to the club after their victory. Donnarumma, who was replaced by Chevalier in the final, had announced on Wednesday that he would be leaving the club as ‘someone had decided’ that he could no longer be part of the club.
Donnarumma’s exit has left many surprised as the 26-year-old goalkeeper played a key role in helping PSG win their maiden Champions League title last season. Nonetheless, Luis Enrique’s men will be happy to have added another silverware to the club’s cabinet ahead of the start of the new season, despite beginning their pre-season campaign only a week ago.
PSG will take on Nantes in an away game to begin their Ligue 1 campaign on Sunday and will be hoping to continue their winning momentum in the French league.