Paris Saint-Germain produced a dramatic late rally before beating Tottenham in a penalty shootout to win the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday, securing a fifth trophy of 2025 for the French club.
Nuno Mendes converted the clinching spot kick in the shootout to complete a PSG comeback that looked unlikely when Tottenham held a 2-0 lead in the 85th minute of regulation in the annual match between the most recent winners of the Champions League and Europa League.
Lee Kang-in gave PSG hope by reducing the deficit with a fierce shot into the bottom corner and fellow substitute Gonçalo Ramos grabbed an equalizer in the fourth minute of stoppage time to make it 2-2 at Stadio Friuli in Udine.
Even then, Tottenham moved in position to pull off an upset by taking a 2-0 lead in the shootout after Vitinha's first-up miss for PSG. However, Micky van de Ven and Mathys Tel failed from the spot for Spurs and PSG scored four penalties in a row, the last of which was slammed home by Mendes.
PSG won the Champions League-Ligue 1-Coupe de France treble last season, along with the Trophee des Champions in January. The only blip came in last month's defeat to Chelsea in the final of the Club World Cup, a competition which extended PSG's 2024-25 season into mid-July.
Turbulent debut for Chevalier
It was quite the debut for Lucas Chevalier, a goalkeeper who has joined from Lille and taken over as first choice at PSG from Gianluigi Donnarumma — regarded by many as the world's best goalie.
Chevalier was unlucky in conceding Tottenham's opening goal in the 39th, tipping Joao Palhinha’s shot onto the crossbar only for Van de Ven to show quick reactions and prod home.
He was to blame, though, for the second after failing to keep out a header from newly appointed Tottenham captain Cristian Romero in the 48th.
Chevalier finished the evening by saving a penalty by Van de Ven in the shootout, a tiebreaker in which Donnarumma often thrives. The Italian might have been watching from home, having not traveled to Italy on Tuesday before announcing he'd be leaving PSG.
Heartbreak for Frank
Thomas Frank was taking charge of his first competitive match at Tottenham after replacing the fired Ange Postecoglou, who led the team to its first trophy in 17 years with a victory over Manchester United in the Europa League final in May.
The former Brentford manager almost had a trophy to take home, with Tottenham initially outsmarting PSG and showing clearly it is further along in its preparations for the new campaign compared to PSG.
PSG belatedly discovered its sharpness and customary slickness and hit Tottenham with the late goals in regulation, the dramatic equalizer coming from Ramos when he headed home Ousmane Dembele's right-wing cross.
Frank said Tottenham “played almost perfectly.”
“The single result, 2-2, is good," Frank said. "If you look into the performance, the shift the players put in ... wow, what a mentality.
"There are lots of things to be happy with. That needs to be the foundation going forward.”
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
