Match of the Day pundits Joe Hart and Danny Murphy analyse Guglielmo Vicario’s mistake for Tottenham that allowed Fulham’s Harry Wilson to produce “a piece of art” and increase the pressure on Spurs manager Thomas Frank.
WATCH MORE: Booing whilst we’re still playing is completely unacceptable – Frank
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Frank’s formation moved away from the five-man defence that drew so much fury against Arsenal, operating with a traditional back four protected by Rodrigo Bentancur and Archie Gray. He paired Richarlison and Kolo Muani up front to good effect.
It was also line-up that suggested Frank may have had one eye on Saturday night’s key home game against Fulham, with Mohammed Kudus, Joao Palhinha, Destiny Udogie, Wilson Odobert and Xavi Simons left out.
Spurs, however were none the worse for that until they were submerged under PSG’s quality, Frank’s selection tireless out of possession using a man-for-man strategy which Luis Enrique’s side initially struggled to combat, getting up the pitch in a manner that seemed alien to them at Arsenal.
Spurs were pressing high, looking to win the ball back with a real competitive edge. This, at least, looked something like a Thomas Frank team, despite the painful end result.
Frank was furious at his team’s lack of aggression at Arsenal, visibly grimacing when he pointed out they only won 17 out of 53 duels and second-ball situations.
Commitment could not be questioned here, but Spurs were undone by momentary lapses that always risk the ultimate punishment against PSG.
Frank said: “I am very pleased with the performance. This was much more the identity of the team, the bravery and aggressiveness of the team.
“There were lots of positives, the two strikers scoring three goals between them, the whole team performed really well. The performance was to get something out of the game but then you need to have the margins with you, but we can’t concede some of the goals we did.”
Spurs looked like taking a deserved 1-0 lead into the interval, only to switch off after a set-piece, allowing the brilliant Vitinha to equalise.
It happened again when Pape Matar Sarr, with the score 2-2, carelessly ceded possession just before the hour, the mistake ending with Fabian Ruiz putting PSG ahead for the first time.
Vitinha, a stellar performer in PSG’s Champions League win, was the decisive performer with two stunning strikes to snuff out the Spurs lead, one with his right foot another with his left.
Frank said: “Vitinha is the best midfielder in the world. He will be the next Ballon d’Or winner.”
PSG simply proved too good in the end, but Spurs also went some way to answering justified criticism about a lack of threat, with Richarlison and Kolo Muani providing three goals between them.
It was a good night for Kolo Muani, who has seen his attempt to make an impact at Spurs held back by a dead leg and a broken jaw, restricting him to just four starts and 345 minutes of action before this game.
Former Spurs and England goalkeeper Paul Robinson told BBC Radio 5 Live: “What I will say is that Tottenham had a different attitude. Their application, their work rate, their pressing, they started higher up the field. There was a lot more to be positive about.
“Unlike at the weekend Frank can put his finger on things that went wrong rather than scratching his head and thinking he didn’t recognise his team.”
The scenery now shifts to the vital home game against Fulham – where Frank must again convince his detractors he has foundations to build on.
In his BBC Sport column, ex-Premier League manager Tony Pulis looks at the value of defending properly and how Mikel Arteta and Thomas Frank find a balance between scoring goals and stopping them.
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Stephen Curry scored 46 points as the Golden State Warriors inflicted a first home NBA defeat of the season on the San Antonio Spurs.
The two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) helped the Warriors end a six-game losing streak on the road with a 125-120 victory at Frost Bank Center in Texas.
Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle became the first Spurs players to record triple-doubles in the same game, but Curry scored 29 points in the second half as the Warriors outscored the Spurs 76-64.
“That third quarter is what we do – getting stops, pushing, creating easy offence. Thankfully I was able to knock a couple down,” Curry said.
Jimmy Butler contributed 28 points and eight assists for the Warriors, while Moses Moody scored 19 points.
While the spectre of Bale is inescapable with Wales, Johnson had another impossible act to follow at Spurs, joining in the same transfer window that saw Harry Kane leave for Bayern Munich.
“He came in at quite a weird time for the club. I’m not sure they really had a good plan for how to replace Kane,” says Jack Pitt-Brooke, who covers Spurs for The Athletic.
“Johnson came in at a difficult moment but, with injuries to other players, he ended up playing tons that year and he was actually pretty good.”
It helped that it was then-Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou who signed Johnson, who scored 23 goals in all competitions during his first two seasons.
“He fitted what Ange wanted from wingers,” Pitt-Brooke adds. “Really high and wide, scoring goals where a winger goes down one side, pulls the ball back across the box, and the opposite side winger taps it in. Johnson was good at both delivering that cross, and also tapping it in at the far post.”
Under Postecoglou, Spurs won the Europa League – with Johnson scoring the winner in the final against Manchester United – but the Australian was sacked this summer after the club finished 17th in the Premier League.
Thomas Frank replaced him – and the Dane replaced Johnson, with Kudus.
“Frank wants to play a different way, and he wants his wingers to do a lot more on the ball than just score tap-ins,” says Pitt-Brooke.
“Spurs paid £55m for Kudus, who doesn’t score many goals, but everything until he gets to the opposition goal is much better than Johnson.
“At the moment, I don’t think any Spurs fan would have Johnson in their first-choice team. It’s not really clear where he fits.”
Johnson has managed four goals in his 17 appearances in all competitions this season but, according to many supporters and pundits, does not offer much else.
“He doesn’t really do a lot apart from scoring goals,” says Pitt-Brooke. “There are obviously worse things to be than a guy who’s just known for scoring goals, but I think people would probably have expected him to have done more.
“He’s a bit of a mystery.”
Thomas Frank says his Tottenham team and Manchester United ‘neutralised’ each other, after the sides played out a 2-2 draw.
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Marcus Smart couldn’t believe the stat line. Five steals and two blocks for who?
“Lukaaaaa,” Smart said, elongating Luka Doncic’s name while smiling toward his star teammate who was sitting with his feet in an ice bucket with ice bags wrapped around his knees.
Doncic matched his career high for steals in a regular-season game Wednesday. The guard averaging 40 points per game claimed his defense was the only thing he did well on a night when he finished one rebound short of a triple-double. While collecting 35 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, he was an inefficient nine-for-27 from the field and four-for-11 from three. He missed four free throws, turned the ball over four times and, after picking up his fifth foul with 7:58 remaining in the fourth, nearly fouled out.
The last fact took Rui Hachimura by surprise.
“I’ve never seen him like that,” Hachimura said. “But you know, he’s trying to be more aggressive [on defense] and that’s what we need from him, too.”
Redick said Doncic had a few games when he started slow defensively in terms of physicality and engagement, but has been overall “really good” this season. Even when he was switched on to Spurs star Victor Wembanyama or point guard Stephon Castle, Doncic still competed well.
“There wasn’t matador defense,” Redick said. “He still guarded. And that was huge. The reason we won the game is because we guarded in the fourth quarter. Our fourth-quarter defense was the No. 1 reason we won the game.”
The Lakers limited the Spurs to 36.8% shooting from the field during the fourth quarter while forcing six turnovers. Wembanyama was held to 19 points on labored five-for-14 shooting with eight rebounds. He was nine-for-11 on free throws and fouled out with 1:40 remaining when he bowled over Hachimura.
From Broderick Turner: The buzz inside Crypto.com Arena for the Lakers and San Antonio Spurs game was created because generational talents Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyana were performing. It was a show that even several members of the World Series champion Dodgers were on hand to watch.
But what they saw was a lot of fouls being called that made the game unsightly. Doncic picked up his fifth in the fourth quarter, and Wembanyama eventually fouled out.
In the end, Doncic produced 35 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds in leading the Lakers to their fifth straight win with a 118-116 victory over the Spurs on Wednesday night.
The Lakers won despite a horrible turnover late in the game, giving the Spurs a chance to tie the score.
From Jack Harris: The Dodgers wasted no time this week setting their sights on a potential World Series three-peat for next season.
Now, they embark on the winter-long process of building a roster capable of doing it.
For the most part, the core of the 2026 Dodgers shouldn’t change much. Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith will still lead the offense. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow will anchor the rotation.
However, with plenty of money coming off the books, several notable contributors to this year’s team now free agents, and plenty of opportunities lying ahead of them this offseason, the Dodgers have work to do and decisions to make as they attempt to defend their title again next year.
The Dodgers-Blue Jays World Series had record-setting ratings. Here’s what it means
We asked, “Who was the Dodgers’ hitting star in the World Series?”
After 1,691 votes, the results:
Will Smith, 55.8%
Shohei Ohtani, 27.4%
Miguel Rojas, 13.1%
Someone else, 3%
Max Muncy, 0.7%
From Gary Klein: The Rams are no longer kicking the can down the road when it comes to their kicking problems.
On Wednesday, the Rams signed kicker Harrison Mevis to the practice squad to compete with second-year pro Joshua Karty. The move came a day after the team signed veteran long-snapper Jake McQuaide to compete with Alex Ward.
“It’s all geared toward trying to be able to just get some solutions and some kick consistency really with our field-goal operation,” coach Sean McVay said Wednesday. “I think it’s important to have good competition at some spots that we feel we can have improved play.”
From Andrés Soto: Kaylon Miller was on the six-yard line in the fourth quarter, blocking on a USC run play when he saw King Miller, his running back and twin brother, blow right past him.
“Run, run, go, go!” he remembers shouting as King bumped it outside and crossed the Nebraska goal line for the go-ahead touchdown that ultimately would be the game winner in the Trojans’ 21-17 Big Ten win last Saturday in Lincoln.
When King turned around in the end zone, it was his brother who was the first to greet him; the two brothers shared a moment as their facemasks clashed into each other. Both walk ons. Both finding opportunities to get on the field as redshirt freshmen — and both making the most of those opportunities.
Keith Browner, former USC linebacker and member of a large NFL family, dies at 63
1869 — First U.S. college football game played, Rutgers 6, Princeton 4.
1934 — Joe Carter scores four touchdowns and Swede Hanson rushes for 190 yards as the Philadelphia Eagles crush the Cincinnati Reds 64-0.
1966 — Philadelphia’s Timmy Brown returns kickoffs 93 yards and 90 yards for touchdowns to lead the Eagles to a 24-23 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
1981 — Larry Holmes knocks out Renaldo Snipes in the 11th round to retain the world heavyweight title in Pittsburgh.
1983 — James Wilder of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rushes for 219 yards and a touchdown in a 17-12 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
1988 — Britain’s Steve Jones win the New York City Marathon in 2:08:20, the fastest time in the world this year. His margin of victory, 3 minutes and 21 seconds over Salvatore Bettiol, is the largest in the history of the five-borough race. Grete Waitz wins an unprecedented ninth women’s title, finishing in 2:28:07 well ahead of Italy’s Laura Fogli (2:31:26).
1992 — Manon Rheaume of the Atlanta Knights becomes the first woman to suit up for a regular-season pro hockey game. The 20-year-old goalie doesn’t play in Atlanta’s 3-2 overtime loss to Cincinnati in the IHL game.
1993 — French-based Arcangues stages the biggest Breeders’ Cup upset, rallying to beat Bertrando by 2 lengths in the $3 million Classic at Santa Anita. Arcangues went off at 133-1 and returned $269.20 on a $2 bet.
1993 — Evander Holyfield regains the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships from Riddick Bowe in a fight disrupted by a parachutist. During the seventh round at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, the chutist tumbles into the ringside seats and stops the fight for 21 minutes. Holyfield becomes the fourth man to become a heavyweight champion at least twice.
1995 — Art Modell officially announces Cleveland Browns are moving to Baltimore.
1999 — Charles Roberts rushes for 409 yards and five touchdowns to lead Sacramento State past Idaho State 41-20, setting a new NCAA record for a single-game rushing performance.
2005 — Annika Sorenstam becomes the first player in LPGA Tour history to win a tournament five straight times, shooting an 8-under 64 for a three-stroke victory in the Mizuno Classic.
2010 — Michigan wins the highest scoring game in its 131-year history by stopping a 2-point conversion attempt in the third overtime for a 67-65 victory over Illinois.
2010 — Zenyatta comes within a head of finishing a perfect career. Horse racing’s biggest star closes from dead last, but Blame holds off the 6-year-old mare and wins the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic under the lights Churchill Downs. Zenyatta entered the race hoping to improve to 20-0 on her career.
Compiled by the Associated Press
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Match of the Day’s Gabby Logan, Alan Shearer and Ashley Williams dissect the reaction of Tottenham’s Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven after their defeat by Chelsea.
READ MORE: Fans booing and players snubbing the manager – an ‘abject’ day for Spurs
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