Richarlison ended a difficult week by coming off the bench to score and inspire Tottenham to a dramatic 2-1 win over Sheffield United.
Spurs were heading for their first Premier League defeat under Ange Postecoglou after Gustavo Hamer put the newly-promoted side 1-0 up in the 73rd minute in north London.
Postecoglou turned to Richarlison and the £60million forward rewarded the faith of his head coach with a headed equaliser in the eighth minute of added time for only his second league goal since joining from Everton last summer.
There was still time for a grandstand finish and it arrived in the 10th minute of stoppage time when Richarlison set up Dejan Kulusevski to rifle home to make it four league wins in a row for Tottenham ahead of next weekend’s derby away to Arsenal.
It was a cruel ending for Sheffield United, who had Oli McBurnie sent off for a second yellow card before full-time and remain winless after five matches.
Tottenham were unchanged from their 5-2 victory at Burnley before the international break, which meant Richarlison was again restricted to a place on the bench after he revealed in midweek his desire to seek “psychological help” following a turbulent time on and off the pitch.
An excellent start to life under Postecoglou earned him manager of the month for August, but Spurs were provided an early warning by Sheffield United when McBurnie turned neatly in the area, only for his curled effort to hit strike partner Cameron Archer.
Eventually the hosts settled into their stride and Wes Foderingham saved well from Yves Bissouma’s left-footed effort in the 19th minute after a slick move.
Spurs captain Son Heung-min was next to test Foderingham with a curled strike before Guglielmo Vicario got down well to James McAtee’s low shot, which would have been ruled out anyway.
Postecoglou’s team continued to push for the opener and James Maddison called Foderingham into action before the Sheffield United goalkeeper required lengthy treatment for a muscle injury.
Foderingham was fine to carry on and penalty appeals had been waved away for the hosts by this point after Maddison went down under contact from Chris Basham.
The Blades goalkeeper was booked on the stroke of half-time for handling outside his area before boos greeted the end of the first 45 after only three minutes were added on despite several stoppages.
Foderingham was at the heart of the action at the beginning of the second period when he was caught by Micky van de Ven and needed a concussion check, but the ex-Rangers goalkeeper stayed on to lap up his role as pantomime villain.
Cristian Romero headed wide after fine work by Bissouma soon after, but frustration was starting to get the better of the hosts.
Play was twice halted by referee Peter Bankes after a second ball was thrown onto the pitch before Maddison and Manor Solomon were shown yellow cards in quick succession.
Solomon did fire over soon after and the Blades then provided Tottenham with a sucker-punch in the 73rd minute.
Jack Robinson’s long throw was not dealt with by Pape Sarr or Romero and it dropped for Sheffield United summer signing Hamer, who drilled in at the back post via the woodwork to delight the travelling faithful behind the goal.
Postecoglou reacted with a triple substitution as deadline day addition Brennan Johnson, Richarlison and Ivan Perisic were brought on, which lifted the hosts.
Perisic and Johnson both put the ball in the net not long after their introduction but the offside flag denied them and it was left to Richarlison to steal the show.
The Brazil number nine was pictured in tears last weekend following another blank in a 5-1 win over Bolivia for his nation but headed home Perisic’s corner deep into added time.
Better was to follow for Tottenham when a superb move involving Perisic and Richarlison saw the latter tee up Kulusevski, who fired through Robinson’s legs to spark wild celebrations as the feelgood factor at Spurs continues.
Kimmich ready to open Bayern Munich talks amid Barcelona speculation
Joshua Kimmich is ready to open talks with Bayern Munich over his future at the club amid speculation linking him with Barcelona.
The Germany international has spent nine years at the Allianz Arena, but he is due to become a free agent at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
Barca have been repeatedly linked with Kimmich in recent transfer windows and are said to retain an interest ahead of next season.
Speaking to Spanish outlet AS, the midfielder talked up Barca - as well as fierce rivals Real Madrid - but fell short of saying he is open to a move.
"I want to talk to Bayern. When I do that, I won't go out and talk to the press about it," he said.
"I'm not thinking about this. I will speak to Bayern first. But of course, Barcelona and Real Madrid are amazing clubs with an amazing history."
Kimmich has played 37 times in all competitions this season for Bayern, whose last remaining hope of silverware is in the Champions League.
Bayern will face Real Madrid over two legs for a place in the final, with the first match in that double-header taking place in Bavaria on Tuesday.
Thomas Tuchel will depart the dethroned Bundesliga champions at the end of the season, with Ralf Rangnick the favourite to succeed him.
The managerial uncertainty is not helping with regards to the Kimmich rumours, but he insists that will not be a deciding factor on his future.
"It's not the most important thing right now," he said. "I know that when you sign a contract you don't sign it with the coach.
"You sign it with the club. For me, the most important thing is the club, not just the coach.
"But it's also important to know what the coach thinks about you and the team. Other people in the club can worry about choosing the coach."
Desailly calls on LaLiga to do more to protect Vinicius Junior
Marcel Desailly has called on LaLiga to do more to protect Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior and other players who have been targeted by racist abuse.
Vinicius broke down at a press conference earlier this month as he opened up about the abuse he has received from the stands while representing Madrid.
The Brazil international is not alone in that regard, with team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni another example, and World Cup winner Desailly wants more to be done.
"Vinicius has spoken out, but it's not about him - it's about LaLiga and the people who can take action," he told Stats Perform.
"We have the power to change things, but we are not doing enough. Samuel Eto'o had the same issue before.
"Vinicius is one of those who is suffering because the administrative people in charge are not willing to hit harder than they are."
Vinicius has been a key player for LaLiga champions-elect Madrid once again this season with 13 goals and five assists in 23 outings.
Desailly regards Vinicius, who scored the winning goal in the 2022 Champions League final, as one of the finest players of his generation.
"He's a very ambitious player," Desailly said. "I think he's improved a lot because he is now clinical in assisting and finishing.
"When you look at someone like Ousmane Dembele, his stats are not as good.
"Then you look at Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka, another who has improved - there is potential for each of those to get close to Vinicius."
Ancelotti: Real Madrid are never 'undervalued' in the Champions League
Real Madrid always feel respected by every team in the Champions League, so says coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Madrid overcame holders Manchester City on penalties in the quarter-finals to tee up a last-four clash with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
City dominated much of the second leg in Manchester, yet after a 4-4 draw on aggregate, it was Ancelotti's team who got over the line.
Fourteen-time European champions Madrid, who allowed Karim Benzema to leave for Saudi Arabia at the end of last season, were not fancied to get past City, but Ancelotti does not think his team have been undervalued in this year's competition.
"Madrid is never undervalued in this competition, because everyone knows what we can do," he said.
"We feel respect from everyone."
City's Bernardo Silva called Madrid a "strange" team, a comment that left Ancelotti nonplussed.
"I don't know. We are not strange," he added.
"I think the weight of the shirt weighs in this competition, like history, but I have nothing to answer Bernardo Silva with.
"He is a fantastic player. Last year [City] had a good time and this year we had a good time. That's football."
When it was put to him that Madrid go into this tie as favourites, Ancelotti replied: "It does not worry me. We have confidence to stand up to a team that has not had a great Bundesliga season, but has knocked out Arsenal.
"It comes from eliminating a very strong team in Europe. In the Champions League, history counts a lot and that works in our favour."
Ancelotti has faced Thomas Tuchel nine times in his career, winning three of those games, losing four and drawing twice, and the Italian anticipates another stern test.
He said: "In terms of quality, they are strong in transition, they can play in different ways and are very dangerous. We are two who do not have a very clear identity. We can both play in different ways."
Tuesday's first leg also marks a return to Munich for Ancelotti, who coached Bayern between 2016 and 2017.
"It is very beautiful, a fantastic city, although unfortunately German has never entered my head," Ancelotti said.
"My son did, he learned very well. Munich is a spectacular city to live in."
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