Thomas Frank's Tottenham were left to rue a familiar collapse as Paris St Germain recovered from two goals down to win the Uefa Super Cup on penalties in Udine. Spurs had appeared in control after set-piece goals from Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, but late strikes from Lee Kang-in and Gonçalo Ramos levelled the tie and PSG won the shootout when Nuno Mendes scored the decisive kick.
Tottenham's approach was clear from the outset, as they repeatedly launched long throws and free-kicks into the PSG box. They took the lead when Romero connected with a deep delivery and Van de Ven followed up after Joao Palhinha's effort was saved. Early in the second half, Romero headed in a Pedro Porro free-kick to double the advantage, with PSG debutant Lucas Chevalier at fault for the second goal.
PSG had been sluggish and missing the dropped Gianluigi Donnarumma, but slowly found a way back. Lee Kang-in rifled a shot past Guglielmo Vicario from 20 yards with five minutes left, and deep into added time Dembélé crossed for Ramos to glance a header in and force a penalty shootout.
The shootout saw chances spurned on both sides. Van de Ven was denied by Chevalier, while Mathys Tel dragged his kick wide, meaning Vitinha's miss did not prove costly. Nuno Mendes kept his composure to fire home the clinching penalty and hand PSG the trophy.
Frank, who had called the set-piece routine a "special operation", will take encouragement from his side's overall performance, especially the work of Mohammed Kudus and Richarlison. But the manner of the defeat underscored the scale of the task as he seeks to instil a winning mentality in a squad that has often faded under pressure.
