Tottenham conceded two injury-time goals as they slumped to a Champions League defeat against Sporting Lisbon.
Spurs had a number of good chances but could not take them and looked on course to earn a point in Portugal.
However, in the 91st minute Paulinho headed in from Pedro Goncalves’ left-wing corner to put the hosts ahead.
It got better for Sporting as another substitute, Arthur Gomes, hit a fine, low strike to make it 2-0 and hand Spurs their first loss of the season.
Sporting are top of Group D on six points after two victories, with Spurs second on three points.
In the other group match, Eintracht Frankfurt won 1-0 against Marseille in France thanks to a goal from Jesper Lindstrom in a game marred by crowd trouble at the Orange Velodrome.
Spurs left to wonder what might have been
Before the match, Sporting coach Ruben Amorim said Tottenham have “one of the best attacks in the world” but for the first time in their eight matches this season, Spurs could not find a goal.
Richarlison scored twice in a 2-0 home victory over Marseille last week and the Brazilian had a number of chances to put his side ahead.
In the first half he had a shot blocked by ex-Liverpool defender Sebastian Coates, headed at goalkeeper Antonio Adan and put the ball in the net after rounding Adan, but was judged offside when collecting Harry Kane’s through pass.
Richarlison also had chances in the second half but twice put his efforts just wide.
Tottenham, third in the Premier League, dominated the start of the second half against their hosts, seventh in the Portuguese Primeira Liga.
Emerson Royal twice had shots saved by Adan, who also made an excellent stop at full stretch to parry Kane’s powerful angled strike. Ivan Perisic also headed just wide and produced an excellent low cross which Kane was just unable to get on the end of.
Spurs’ catalogue of misses proved costly as Sporting scored twice inside three minutes of second-half injury time to secure their second Group D win after beginning their campaign with a 3-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Frustrated Tottenham boss Antonio Conte, who has lost nine of his 19 Champions League away games as a manager, said: “Difficult result and when you lose the game you’re not happy.
“We could’ve scored, and we tried to win the game, then in the last 10 minutes we can do much better.
“It’s a pity but it was a difficult game. We tried to get a win but in the end we lost the game.
“We had two or three situations that we can do much better in but now we have to rest and think about the next game in the Premier League.”
Ex-Tottenham man Edwards a constant threat
Sporting’s side included ex-Tottenham player Marcus Edwards – and he impressed throughout.
He had been with Tottenham’s academy since the age of eight and when he was a teenager was once compared to Argentina forward Lionel Messi by then-Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino.
In 2019 he left north London and joined Portuguese side Vitoria de Guimaraes before moving to Sporting Lisbon in the summer.
Edwards scored one and made one in Sporting’s 3-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the first round of Champions League games and again was a constant threat with his dribbling ability.
After only seven minutes he set up ex-Wolves midfielder Pedro Goncalves, whose low shot was pushed wide by Hugo Lloris.
Edwards then produced a superb run in first-half injury time that saw him dance past a number of defenders only for Lloris to make an excellent save to keep out what would have been one of the goals of the season.
But the late goals from Paulinho and Gomes ensured Edwards would be on the winning side against his former team.
Player of the match
Arthur GomesArthur Gomes
Sporting Lisbon
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Squad number33Player nameArthur GomesAverage rating
8.29
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Squad number20Player namePaulinhoAverage rating
8.23
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Squad number10Player nameEdwards
Average rating7.99
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Squad number47Player nameRicardo Esgaio
Average rating7.79
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Squad number6Player nameAlexandropoulos
Average rating7.78
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Squad number17Player nameTrincão
Average rating7.64
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Squad number24Player namePorro
Average rating7.58
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Squad number5Player nameMorita
Average rating7.56
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Squad number28Player namePote
Average rating7.50
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Squad number4Player nameCoates
Average rating7.45
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Squad number15Player nameUgarte
Average rating7.38
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Squad number11Player nameNuno Santos
Average rating7.30
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Squad number2Player nameMatheus Reis
Average rating7.27
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Squad number1Player nameAdán
Average rating7.12
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Squad number25Player nameGonçalo Inácio
Average rating6.93
Tottenham Hotspur
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Squad number1Player nameLlorisAverage rating
5.41
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Squad number21Player nameKulusevskiAverage rating
4.97
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Squad number15Player nameDierAverage rating
4.65
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Squad number14Player namePerisicAverage rating
4.55
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Squad number9Player nameRicharlisonAverage rating
4.52
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Squad number17Player nameRomeroAverage rating
4.31
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Squad number33Player nameDaviesAverage rating
4.20
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Squad number30Player nameBentancurAverage rating
4.15
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Squad number7Player nameSon Heung-MinAverage rating
3.89
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Squad number10Player nameKaneAverage rating
3.69
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Squad number5Player nameHøjbjergAverage rating
3.58
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Squad number12Player nameEmerson RoyalAverage rating
3.24
Line-ups
Sporting
Formation 3-4-3
- 1Adán
- 25Inácio
- 4Coates
- 2Reis de LimaBooked at 75mins
- 24Porro
- 15Ugarte
- 5MoritaBooked at 63minsSubstituted forAlexandropoulosat 71′minutes
- 11Gomes dos SantosSubstituted forde Sousa Esgaioat 90+2′minutes
- 17Machado TrincãoSubstituted forDias Fernandesat 76′minutes
- 10EdwardsSubstituted forGomes Lourençoat 90+2′minutes
- 28Pereira Gonçalves
Substitutes
- 6Alexandropoulos
- 12Israel
- 16Costa Rocha
- 18Fatawu
- 20Dias Fernandes
- 22Eusébio Paulo
- 33Gomes Lourenço
- 47de Sousa Esgaio
- 63Martinez Marsà
- 71Basilua Jacinto Názinho
Tottenham
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 1Lloris
- 17Romero
- 15Dier
- 33Davies
- 12Emerson RoyalBooked at 81mins
- 5HøjbjergBooked at 84mins
- 30BentancurBooked at 61mins
- 14Perisic
- 9Richarlison
- 7Son Heung-MinSubstituted forKulusevskiat 72′minutes
- 10Kane
Substitutes
- 2Doherty
- 4Skipp
- 6D Sánchez
- 11Gil
- 19R Sessegnon
- 20Forster
- 21Kulusevski
- 24Spence
- 25Tanganga
- 34Lenglet
- 38Bissouma
- 42White
- Referee:
- Srdjan Jovanovic
- Attendance:
- 39,899
Match Stats
Live Text
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Match ends, Sporting Lisbon 2, Tottenham Hotspur 0.
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Second Half ends, Sporting Lisbon 2, Tottenham Hotspur 0.
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Goal! Sporting Lisbon 2, Tottenham Hotspur 0. Arthur Gomes (Sporting Lisbon) right footed shot from the left side of the six yard box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Paulinho.
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Substitution, Sporting Lisbon. Ricardo Esgaio replaces Nuno Santos.
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Substitution, Sporting Lisbon. Arthur Gomes replaces Marcus Edwards.
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Goal! Sporting Lisbon 1, Tottenham Hotspur 0. Paulinho (Sporting Lisbon) header from the left side of the six yard box to the top right corner. Assisted by Pote with a cross following a corner.
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Corner, Sporting Lisbon. Conceded by Hugo Lloris.
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Attempt saved. Pedro Porro (Sporting Lisbon) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
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Foul by Pote (Sporting Lisbon).
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Emerson Royal (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Tottenham Hotspur) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Manuel Ugarte (Sporting Lisbon) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Tottenham Hotspur).
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Attempt blocked. Nuno Santos (Sporting Lisbon) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
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Corner, Sporting Lisbon. Conceded by Ivan Perisic.
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Emerson Royal (Tottenham Hotspur) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Nuno Santos (Sporting Lisbon) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Emerson Royal (Tottenham Hotspur).
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Offside, Tottenham Hotspur. Dejan Kulusevski tries a through ball, but Emerson Royal is caught offside.
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Paulinho (Sporting Lisbon) wins a free kick in the attacking half.