Nuno Mendes gets PSG party started in Super Cup shootout win against Spurs

 Paris Saint-Germain 2-2 Tottenham (4-3 pens)

PSG score two late goals to set up shootout

It turns out the DNA of serial ­winners cannot be developed within three months. Tottenham should have been able to announce themselves kings of the continent here in Udine, flimsy though any grand statements after a Uefa Super Cup win might be. Thomas Frank had challenged them to back up the heroics of Bilbao with a statement in the Friulian heat and, by the evening’s end, he should have been basking in the kind of start that can define a new manager’s tenure.

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Instead he received a reminder that there is no quick fix to some deep-rooted habits. For long periods Spurs, faced with a lethargic Paris Saint-Germain, resembled a perfectly imprinted version of the Frank playbook. They pummelled their ­opponents in the air, their two-goal lead owing much to well-executed free-kicks and plenty more havoc arising besides. On top of that they looked at ease with a three-man back line that gave a stellar attack little encouragement. With five minutes of regulation time left there was no sign they would be subjected to penalty-inflicted torment.

Then the PSG substitute Lee Kang‑in rifled past Guglielmo Vicario from 20 yards and, for the first time, the Champions League holders looked clear-eyed. By contrast ­Tottenham had sunk back and there was a familiar yawning dread when, simply unable to find a way out by now, they saw six added minutes held up on the touchline.

In the fourth of them Gonçalo Ramos glanced in a cross from the otherwise quiet Ousmane Dembélé and Frank will be aware of the surgery still needed on a squad whose backbone is too accustomed to splintering.

Not that anyone could judge too harshly. There will certainly be no recriminations for Micky van de Ven or Mathys Tel, who both erred in the shootout and rendered a Vitinha miss irrelevant. Van de Ven was denied by the highly scrutinised PSG debutant Lucas Chevalier, who had a mixed night, and Tel wafted his spot kick wide. It left Nuno Mendes to score the clincher and leave a resounding message that the best in class are never really down and out.

Used correctly it is a lesson that will serve Spurs and Frank admirably. They looked well ahead of schedule for the majority, even allowing for the fact PSG appeared addled by a calendar that leaves them neither rested nor match sharp. Frank wants to add at least one big ticket signing to their attack but will have been enthused by the ball carrying of Mohammed Kudus, who was both tireless and effective, and some of the Ghanaian’s combinations with Richarlison. When Tottenham expressed themselves it was because, full of running, they had earned the right.

But it was their booming, dominant presence from crosses that caused the most unrest. In the warm-up Frank’s players had lined up en masse to practise attacking set pieces, an unusual sight in time usually given to rondos and shooting drills. It foreshadowed what would follow. Kevin Danso’s long throw was utilised from the opening minutes and, the first time Spurs won a free-kick on halfway, Vicario was called to launch it boxwards.

On the second occasion, they scored. Vicario unloaded another of those long, deep deliveries and Cristian Romero connected beyond the far post. The ball ricocheted and, after Chevalier brilliantly touched João Palhinha’s strike onto the bar, Van de Ven followed up. Frank referred afterwards to a “special operation” from such routines and, at that point, Spurs were delivering on their mission.

Three minutes into the second half a deep Pedro Porro free-kick found Romero, announced before kick-off as the new captain, peeling around the back to plant a downwards header across Chevalier. In truth the keeper should have saved, applying a painfully weak hand to Romero’s attempt. PSG’s buildup had been dominated by Luis Enrique’s jettisoning of Gianluigi Donnarumma and any live feed from the Italian’s sofa would presumably have made compulsive viewing.

Danso could have added a third. PSG, laboured and irritable, were resorting to the kind of desperate foul Willian Pacho committed on Pape Matar Sarr after gifting him a route towards goal. Spurs’ fans could sense a party in sleepy Udine but instead were dealt a lesson in the risks that come with dining among the elite.