Paulinho strikes late as Sporting stun Spurs

Sporting Lisbon’s English forward Marcus Edwards (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the UEFA Champions League, group D, first leg football match between Sporting Lisbon and Tottenham Hotspur at the Jose Alvalade stadium in Lisbon on September 13, 2022. (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP)

Antonio Conte admitted Tottenham got what they deserved as Paulinho’s last-gasp goal inspired Sporting Lisbon’s shock 2-0 win in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Conte’s side paid the price for some sloppy finishing and two pieces of dismal defending in stoppage-time at the Jose Alvalade Stadium.

Richarlison, Harry Kane and Emerson Royal were all unable to beat Sporting keeper Antonio Adan, while Son Heung-min’s goal-drought extended to eight games.

Tottenham were still on course for a point until the dramatic denouement as Paulinho headed home before Arthur Gomes danced through the defence to seal Sporting’s second successive Group D victory.

“It was a difficult result. When you lose the game you are not happy. I think that the game was unbalanced in the second half, we could score,” Conte said.

“We tried to win the game and then in the last 10 minutes we can do much better. They scored with a corner and we conceded the second goal after the 90 minutes.

“It is a pity. You have to try and feed the box and have accuracy and go strong to attack the goal.

“We had two or three situations where we can do much better. A difficult game for sure.”

It was a first loss in eight games in all competitions for Tottenham, putting a dampener on a fine run that included a 2-0 win against Marseille in their Champions League opener last week.

Tottenham will still expect to qualify for the knockout stages, but this defeat adds pressure