“Maybe we didn’t deserve to win, but at the same time I think we didn’t deserve to lose,” Conte said. This, he insisted, was a lesson in the “very high standard” required by a competition where “mistakes pay”. On an entertaining night when former player Marcus Edwards drew a standing ovation for Maradona’s moment, Spurs had their chances to win it and certainly didn’t expect to miss it, 22 shots without a goal by the time normal time was up . Partly this may have been because Conte had seen chances fall mainly to a full-back rather than his strikers. Emerson Royal had three and there was one good chance for Harry Kane and Richarlison but none for Son Heung-min. Then, in the 90th minute, Pedro Porro brilliantly killed a long ball down the right, turned inside and curled a superb shot towards the far post. Hugo Lloris saved it – “the best save of the game”, Conte called it – but from the corner Paulinho jumped over Emerson and headed into the net. Remarkably it wasn’t even over, Arthur came on to see out the dying seconds and instead raced into the area from the left to score a stunning second in the 93rd minute, leaving Spurs to mourn their slip-up. Particularly early in each half, a series of crosses caused sporting problems, but did not ultimately bring the breakthrough. The first saw Richarlison head into the turf from close range after Ivan Perisic’s curling ball. A vicious Emerson cross then went right through the six-yard box, past five men. And from a throw the ball fell to Emerson near the goal. Falling backwards, unable to quite tame it, the Brazilian could only put it over the bar. Other, more subtle routes to goal were seen by Kane, who twice slipped past his attacking team-mates only for the flag to go up. The second of these, brilliantly made, saw Richarlison dribble past Antonio Adán and finish smoothly, but he knew his run had started beyond the final defender. Not that it was all Spurs, far from it. Edwards enjoyed reuniting with his former club, creating the first chance of the game with a mad dash to find Francisco Trincão, whose shot was deflected away by Lloris. Trincão had another try when Goncalo Inácio made him run. And Edwards was sliced. There was a willingness from Sporting to get up and run and a mobility in their front three, Edwards starting centrally but looking right, left and deeper. Arthur celebrates sealing Sporting Lisbon’s win. Photo: Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images There was quality too, a big roar greeting a spin and good leg from Edwards. Defender Matheus Reis unleashed a back heel nutmeg on Kane, the world upside down. That was done in excitement, but the moment that left the Sporting fans agape and applauding, a standing ovation that echoed through this stadium, came just before half-time. Mini Messi? This was more like Maradona. Edwards took the ball in the middle of the pitch, turned and beat Eric Dier not once but twice, got away from Perisic and raced into the Tottenham area, feeding the ball to Trincao. The ball came back, Edwards turned a hip, evaded Cristian Romero and then poked home with the tip of his boot. He got away from Lloris twice, somehow ducking under him and going over the bar. Start your evenings with the Guardian’s view of the world of football Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Two more clear chances fell to Emerson early in the second half. Both by Kane – a wonderful deep cross and a clever, quickly cut free-kick – both saved by Adán. A header clawed away and a shot blocked with knees, neither orthodox but both effective. So was a full save from Kane. Perisic couldn’t believe another seemingly perfect delivery hadn’t found the finishing touch, Kane fell on top of him, just unable to make contact. Richarlison then dived to head a header wide of the near post. It would have been worse for Tottenham. Edwards and Gonsalves combined to parry Lloris, then Edwards curled over Ben Davies and reached deep into the area, a reminder of the threat and a signal to raise the noise levels until, in the end, they shot right off the scale. .
