Daily Mail

Of Tottenham’s three damaging results in seven days, this will go down as the worst for Thomas Frank.

Another failure in front of home fans, against a Fulham team without an away win since May. More points squandered in the Premier League, nudging them towards the bottom half.

Worse than the four-goal debacle at Arsenal. Another slip backward after grains of positivity in a five-goal defeat at Paris Saint- Germain.

They were booed off at half-time and again at the final whistle and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was a target for jeers and ironic cheers after his mistake led to Fulham’s second.

Spurs have won only three Premier League home games in the first 11 months of 2025. Next weekend, they will have another go against Brentford, the team Frank left to cross London.

First, they have a daunting trip to Newcastle, with pressure mounting and the doubts swirling around the Dane’s suitability for the job sure to increase after this.

His team made the worst possible start to a vital game, two goals down within six minutes.

First, a heavy slice of fortune for Fulham when Kenny Tete took aim from the edge of the penalty area and found the net via a huge deflection off Destiny Udogie, completely wrong-footing Vicario.

If the Spurs keeper was helpless for the first, he was culpable for the second. Racing from his goal to foil Raul Jimenez, he ended up in a left-back position from where he tried to play a pass down the flank.

He scuffed it to Josh King, the Fulham teenager with a quick mind and quicker feet who rolled the ball on to the left foot of Harry Wilson, and from there it was duly swerved into the open goal with sweet precision.

Spurs were shellshocked. In the stands, the mood shifted uneasily. Discontent rumbled down from the South Stand. Ironic cheers followed Vicario thereafter every time he caught a cross or kicked one clear.

On the pitch, with confidence damaged, natives restless and captain Cristian Romero serving a one-match ban for five yellow cards, Frank’s team creaked and nearly fell further behind.

Samuel Chukwueze hit a post with a curling left-footer from the edge of the box. Chukwueze, on loan from AC Milan and making his first Premier League start after a match-changing cameo as a substitute against Sunderland in the previous game, tormented Pedro Porro in the first half.

Tottenham’s formation, a 4-4-2 shape with the wide midfielders Lucas Bergvall and Mohammed Kudus tucking in behind Randal Kolo Muani and Richarlison to make it 4-2-2-2, had been positively received in Paris on Wednesday, but it did not work here.

Porro was badly exposed and Chukwueze went close again before the interval speeding clear and dancing around Vicario only to be denied his first Fulham goal by a sensational sliding recovery tackle from Micky van de Ven.

There were times when Van de Ven, captain in Romero’s absence, seemed to be keeping the visitors at bay on his own. Another crucial header beat Jimenez to a cross.

Frank resisted the temptation to make changes at half-time, and his team had more urgency upon their return. They found a quicker tempo and got further up the pitch. They got Kudus and Porro on to the ball in better areas. Fulham, however, will reflect on how they dropped too deep and lost impetus.

Kolo Muani has improved Tottenham’s goal threat as he has recaptured his full sharpness. He went close with a header from a Porro cross before Kudus pulled one back, a ferocious strike from a pass by Bergvall.

Frank had three changes already lined up when the goal flew in. He sent them all on and the momentum was theirs, but they could not find the second goal.

Jimenez cleared a Bergvall header off the line before Fulham boss Marco Silva made changes. The fresh legs and defensive reinforcements secured victory. Spurs slide towards another crisis.

MATCH FACTS AND PLAYER RATINGS:

Spurs 442: Vicario 5; Porro 5.5, Danso 5.5, Van de Ven 7, Udogie 6 (Tel 85); Kudus 6.5, Palhinha 5 (Bentancur 60), Gray 6 (Odobert 60), Bergvall 6 (Sarr 77); Richarlison 5 (Simons 60), Kolo Muani 6.5.

Subs: Kinsky, Davies, Johnson, Spence

Goals: Kudus,

Bookings: Van de Ven, Udogie, Kolo Muani

Manager: Thomas Frank 5.5

Fulham 4231: Leno 6; Tete 7, Andersen 7.5, Bassey 7, Sessegnon 7; Iwobi 7 (Castagne 87), Berge 6.5; Wilson 6.5 (Lukic 68, 6), King 7 (Smith Rowe 68, 6), Chukwueze 8 (Kevin 80); Jimenez 6.5.

Subs: Lecomte, Traore, Cuenca, Cairney

Goals: Tete 4, Wilson 6,

Bookings: Jimenez

Manager: Marco Silva 7

Ref: Stuart Attwell 6

Att: 60,546

Porro was badly exposed and tormented by Chukwueze, who went close again in the first half, speeding clear and dancing around Vicario only to be denied his first Fulham goal by a sensational sliding recovery tackle from Micky van de Ven.

There were times when Van de Ven, captain in Romero's absence, seemed to be keeping the visitors at bay single-handedly. Another crucial header to beat Jimenez to a cross.

Booed off at half-time, Frank resisted the temptation to make changes, but his team returned with more urgency.

They found a quicker tempo and got further up the pitch.

They got Kudus and Porro onto the ball in better areas. Although Fulham will reflect on how they dropped too deep and lost impetus.

Kolo Muani has improved Tottenham’s goal threat as he has recaptured his full sharpness.

He went close with a header from a Porro cross before Kudus pulled one back, a ferocious strike from a pass by Bergvall.

Frank had three changes already lined up when the goal went in.

He threw them on and suddenly the momentum was theirs until Marco Silva responded with changes to restore an element of control, giving Fulham fresh legs and defensive reinforcements. And, ultimately, victory.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score, team news and updates as Fulham take on Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League, with Matt Barlow reporting from the grounds.

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After a fantastic start to their season - sitting third in the table after nine matchdays - Tottenham Hotspur have had a few poor weeks, losing two and drawing one out of their last three league games.

Their most humiliating defeat came last time out, as they were thumped 4-1 at the Emirates by north London rivals Arsenal.

As a result, the north London club have dropped to ninth in the table and are at risk of losing touch with the top four if their form doesn't turn around in the coming weeks.

That is why today's fixture against Fulham at home is pivotal - as they look to claim their sixth win of the season.

They are favourites to do just that - with Thomas Frank's side currently priced at 6/5 with Sky Bet to reign supreme.

Meanwhile, if you're anticipating an upset - the Cottagers are a wider 9/4, while a draw is the widest result in the market currently at 23/10.

Fulham boast a strong recent record against Spurs - with the west London club having gone unbeaten in their last three meetings against Tottenham, of which includes two wins.

Those three head-to-head meetings above haven't been without action - with each of those games seeing two or more goals scored in each.

With that in mind, let's take a look at Sky Bet's Over/Under Goals market for this London derby.

The Over/Under Goals market can be found below:

Over 0.5 Goals

Under 0.5 Goals

Over 1.5 Goals

Under 1.5 Goals

Over 2.5 Goals

Under 2.5 Goals

Over 3.5 Goals

Under 3.5 Goals

Over 4.5 Goals

Under 4.5 Goals

Over 5.5 Goals

Under 5.5 Goals

Over 6.5 Goals

Over 7.5 Goals

TNT Sports bizarrely edited out a section of Glenn Hoddle's commentary from their highlights of PSG's clash against Tottenham this week.

The Parisians beat Thomas Frank's side 5-3 in a chaotic Champions League encounter on Wednesday night.

But, one moment in the first half set tongues wagging among fans as Hoddle was the victim of a commentator's curse.

In the final minute of the first period, PSG took a short corner as they attempted to break down Spurs and get back into the game after going 1-0 behind.

Hoddle, who was on co-commentary alongside Adam Summerton, said: 'They've got to get in behind Tottenham and get round the back of Spurs.

'They're playing in front of them and they're taking shots, but Spurs will be quite happy with that.'

However, just as Hoddle finished, the ball came to Vitinha, who thundered a superb strike into the top corner from just outside the area.

Summerton interjected and said: 'Another strike and this time it's in. What a hit that is from Vitinha.

'Off the bar and in - and in the final minute of the first 45, PSG equalise.'

Hoddle replied: 'It's a wonderful strike. They catch Spurs out with a little short one, just snooping around the edge of the penalty area and what a strike that is, right in the top corner.'

However, one sharp-eared fan noticed that in the TNT highlights package that went out of the match on YouTube, Hoddle's comments in the build-up to Vitinha's first strike were conspicuous by their absence.

Summerton's words remained and one fan quipped on X: 'Hilariously, TNT have purposely scrubbed Hoddle saying this from their YouTube upload but kept the main commentator in.'

Another added: 'Noticed this yesterday,' before an extra supporter leapt to the defence of TNT as they said: 'They do this whenever the commentator is mid yap when the highlight begins, makes it more seamless.'

The defeat in France leaves Spurs on eight points from their first five games in the competition and in a battle to automatically qualify for the last-16 stage, something that is secured by finishing in the top eight in the League Phase.

They are also languishing in ninth place in the Premier League, but Frank attempted to remain positive after the PSG defeat.

'Something to build on,' he said. 'Strikers scoring goals. The whole team performed well against a decent team with one Ballon d'Or winner [Ousmane Dembele] and the next one playing in midfield, Vitinha.

'Wow, what a player.'

Spurs return to action on Saturday against Fulham, before they face games with Newcastle and Brentford over the following seven days.

Thomas Frank found no warm embrace in the city of love. Only more punishment from another of the most potent teams in European football.

On Sunday, at Arsenal, it was a four-goal mauling at the hands of the Premier League leaders. Here in, the French capital, five more goals conceded against the mighty Paris Saint-Germain.

It has been a painful four days for Tottenham, and yet here at least there were more positives to take than from the North London derby.

Here, they proved they could score goals. And it is their first defeat in the Champions League. They should find enough points from the last three games of the league phase to qualify for the knock out rounds.

After Arsenal

Frank demanded a response from his players against the European champions after Sunday’s bruising defeat at Arsenal, when he accused them of lacking aggression and losing too many individual duels. His own response was to make five changes with teenagers Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray returning to the team.

Gray came into central midfield alongside Rodrigo Bentancur with what seemed to be instructions to lock onto Vitinha, their tempo-setter, where possible. It was another change of shape for Spurs, who started at Arsenal with a back five and abandoned it at half time to revert to their more usual 4231 system.

Here they lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with the two wide midfielders Pape Matar Sarr and Lucas Bergvall, who made his first appearance since a concussion injury against Chelsea, prepared to tuck inside behind the strikers and form a midfield box.

PSG took early possession of the ball and popped passes around. Luis Enrique had promised a very different game to the Super Cup, when his team had just returned from their summer holidays and struggled against the aerial bombardment by Spurs.

Here, Frank sat his back four deep and let the home team have the ball, looking to pounce on the counterattack, happy to go long from the back, all of which made for a fairly pedestrian opening half hour.

Fabian Ruiz and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia flashed early efforts wide and Warren Zaire-Emery, the young midfielder deputising at right-back with Achraf Hakimi out injured, advanced onto a pass clipped into the box by Vitinha. Guglielmo Vicario was alert to the danger on that occasion.

Two up top

Tottenham chief problem this season has been the goal threat from open play. Frank spoke about searching for the right formula on the eve of this game. He opted for two up front and although they had to be patient their moment came 10 minutes before half time.

Bergvall and Gray created an overload on the left. They are young and at times it shows but they do come with technical quality, and this was the first time Spurs truly carved PSG open. Gray on the run delivered a delightful cross with his left foot, met beyond the back post by Kolo Muani who headed the ball back and Richarlison nodded it into an open net from a matter of inches.

From the opposite end of the scale to his sensational strike from distance at Arsenal. They all count for the same, though and it was a sixth of the season for the Brazilian in club colours and his third in three. Of all the Spurs options up front, it is much-maligned Richarlison who remains most likely to score.

Tottenham’s set-piece is still valid and the second was a brilliant volley by Kolo Muani via a well-worked corner. Pedro Porro’s deep delivery was headed back by Richarlison and Gray hooked it past goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier on the volley. Willian Pacho cleared off the line via the bar and Kolo Muani smashed it back into the net with force. Marquinhos could not stop it going in. On loan from PSG, Kolo Muani did not celebrate his first Spurs goal or his second, lashed in after a mistake by Vitinha to drag the score back to 4-3.

Parisien style

Enrique’s team is packed with quality, and they find ways to make it count. Twice Vintiha, with two brilliant, precision finishes, one with each foot, from the fringes of the penalty area, the sort of range from which Eberechi Eze punished Spurs.

Spurs had given few chances to the PSG press, but mistake crept in as they tired and the hosts threw more players forward. They were caught out making careless passes at the back for the third, scored by Fabian Ruiz. Then failed to defend a corner as Pacho scored the fourth.

Vitinha’s hat-trick came from a penalty awarded for handball against Cristian Romero and then PSG sent on Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele and Goncalo Ramos.

Frank will realise PSG, who finished with 10 men after Lucas Hernandez was sent off in stoppage time, can do this to anyone.

Mikel Arteta played down the big picture of this result - namely, that it makes them the favourites to win the Champions League - but he was happy with what he saw, particularly given he had to rotate some fringe players in.

'The overall performance thd the way we dominated the game [pleased me],' he said.

'We knew this game was going to require a different dimension, and individually we were exceptional.

'It will bring more confidence and trust to the players [seeing rotation players performing].

'We had an issue with Leo [Trossard] so we had to take him off.

'We're still so far [from winning the CL]. We have a really good record so far but tomorrow we prepare to go to Stamford Bridge.'

Thomas Frank was disappointed at the two goals Tottenham gifted to PSG, but generally happy with their performance in a 5-3 defeat using an altered 4-4-2 formation.

'I'm very pleased with the performance. Today was much more the identity of the team - the aggressivity, the bravery, running at them,' he told TNT Sports.

'The two strikers scoring three goals between them. The whole team. Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall looked really good.

'The two goals, three and four, you can't concede them here. [But] Vitinha will be the next Ballon d'Or winner for me.

'The two goals give [Kolo Muani] confidence to go forward. He had a dead leg, broken jaw, came to us not fit. He saw the better of him today.

'Conceding four then five will always be concerning but they are two completely different games and I take the positives. Today I saw a team with soul and character and you need that.'

A huge statement from Declan Rice: Arsenal's mentality is better than it has ever been before, he says.

'I think so [the mentality has changed]. There are a lot more leaders in the team now. There are players who have been at the club for a while now. It hurts not getting over the line. The mentality has been different this year. There's a hunger and a desire to win every game and we can do that at our best.

'There's a long way to go.'

Some interesting points from Rice on TNT Sports. Apparently, not much practice goes into those venemous set-pieces...

'We knew tonight what we were in for: probably the toughest game tactically. They've been the best team in Europe.

'Second half we did much better, got our references right, went man to man.

'It's been so easy to play with him [Zubimendi]. From the first moment e had with each other in pre-season, I could tell we were going to play some good football. I really liked him as a person and a player. He's Spain's number six and you know what Spanish number sixes are like! He's an unbelievable player.

'The players all believe in him [Arteta] and what he does. Chelsea will be a different game tactically but every player knows their role.

'Delivery is a big part of it [my set-pieces]. We don't actually get to work on it a lot because of the game schedule nad how much you have to work on the opposition. But it's something we've built in for a while now.'

Is it too early to start talking about a quadruple challenge?

Previous seasons have taught us that things can unravel quickly. Hey, Liverpool are a case in point right now.

But Arsenal are so clinical, so impregnable. Their depth is actually quite scary, particularly at full-back and in the attacking areas. They've had injury blows this season but marched on unflinching.

They proved last season that they could beat Real Madrid. This season they've scalped Bayern, battered Atletico Madrid, demolished Tottenham.

Who can stop them?

'Two years ago they couldn't have won this game. That second half, I thought they dominated,' said Owen Hargreaves on TNT Sports.

'It's the same performance but different players. It's a mentality thing,' says Martin Keown.

Noni Madueke has been speaking to TNT Sports...

'First of all I just want to thank my Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

'Couldn't have picked a better game for my first goal. I'm so happy that the team got the win as well.

'It's an incredible statement but we know the work that we put in every single day. We go into these types of games with the confidence that we can get the job done.

'I'm a confident player so I don't like anyone telling me I can't do something [responding to summer criticism]. But the belief the players and staff have in me is the reason I want to [do well here].'

Furious clubs are considering further action against WSL Football following Tuesday night's chaotic League Cup draw.

The Subway League Cup quarter-final and semi-final draw was live-streamed on TikTok, hosted by influencer GK Barry and her footballer girlfriend Ella Rutherford, who plays for Portsmouth.

In addition to several crude remarks and an insult directed at Tottenham Hotspur, the most pertinent moment came when a ball was mistakenly placed back into the bag, raising serious concerns about the legitimacy of the draw.

Barry, who retrieved the ball – which carried Tottenham's number – asked the camera: 'Am I allowed to do that? I've done it now, it's too late. Oh, I picked up the same ball.'

Sources indicate that an adjudicator was present and confirmed it was indeed the same ball; had that not been the case, the draw would have needed to be restarted.

It is understood that clubs have requested access to the footage – currently unavailable after being aired solely via Tuesday night's livestream.

Beyond questions over legitimacy, there have been serious concerns about the draw's professionalism, not least Barry asking: 'What do we think of Tottenham?' – a reference to the anti-Spurs chant led by Arsenal fans.

Daily Mail Sport understands that Tottenham Hotspur have since received an apology from WSL Football.

The broadcast also featured several crude references, including Barry saying: 'Send a Galaxy if you think that I've got a bigger bum than Ella', 'These are my balls right here on show. Get a load of it, usually I charge', and 'Lesbians handling balls. Never been seen before.'

Before the draw began, Barry shook the bag containing the balls and slapped it against her backside, adding: 'Give it a shake, a spank for luck.'

Viewers also complained that they could not keep up with proceedings, with one asking for a graphic to show which teams were playing each other. Barry responded by joking about needing a bigger budget.

It is believed the format was an attempt to appeal to younger audiences. While insiders recognise the desire to engage new demographics, this was viewed as a clear failure to get the basics right.

The draw saw holders Chelsea given a trip to Liverpool while last season’s runners up Manchester City will travel to West Ham United. Manchester United host Tottenham while Crystal Palace, the only WSL 2 side left in the competition, will play Arsenal at home. The winners of Liverpool v Chelsea will play the winners of West Ham v City while the winners of United v Tottenham will play the winners of Palace v Arsenal.

Daily Mail Sport have contacted the WSL for comment.

Tottenham's summer was to a degree characterised by near misses. A near miss with Eberechi Eze, who chose Arsenal. A close call for Bryan Mbeumo, too. Spurs thought they had a deal on that one but he went to Manchester United.

And so to the Emirates on Sunday where a near miss would have been acceptable in the circumstances. Instead, in Thomas Frank’s first north London derby as Tottenham manager, his team were blown apart and within seconds of the final whistle the verdict was in.

‘Disgraceful,’ was the opinion of one long-standing observer with connections to the club.

‘Embarrassing,’ was another take on what had just unfolded.

And up in the stands, in the executive boxes where the great and the good of this storied rivalry met to eat and drink and watch the game, there was no getting away from it. Tottenham looked for all the world as though they had come to roll over and they did.

In one box was George Graham. He is 81 at the end of the week. He managed both clubs, of course. He would have recognised one of them if not the other. And that is one of Tottenham’s problems as they approach one of the most important fortnights in Frank’s early time as manager of the club. The identity of his Tottenham remains a mystery.

PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday had a painful ring to it already. Fulham at home in the Premier League on Saturday night is then followed by a midweek trip to Newcastle and a weekend fixture back on their own pitch against Brentford, the club with whom Frank made his name and indeed his reputation.

That reputation was one of a doer, an organiser and a leader. Frank, a Dane courted by both Chelsea and Manchester United in recent times, took hold of Brentford and made them credible, respected and formidable – especially at home. We knew what they were.

Further north at Tottenham, Frank’s task is to move to the next level and it is to be hoped that he succeeds. Given time he may well do so. He is bright and clever and tougher than he looks.

Nevertheless, Tottenham is not Brentford. It’s different. Different forces are at play. And when he walked into the interview room at the Emirates after Sunday’s 4-1 defeat, he looked a little bewildered, suddenly a small man in a very big room. That’s what bad results can do.

Asked what had gone wrong, he gulped and half smiled and wondered out loud where he should start. It was classic Frank. Self-deprecating and honest. But at the same time it didn’t go any way to hide the meekness of a performance that prompted goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario to apologise for a lack of fight.

When the season started with a home win over Burnley and a victory away at Manchester City, there were those at Tottenham who rather patronisingly compared the style of play to Frank’s Brentford. Long-throws, set pieces and fast, direct counter attacks. Now, just three league wins and four defeats later, Spurs fans don’t even have that to cling to.

Tottenham at Arsenal were dreadful. Weak and submissive and seemingly without the will or method to get up the field. Frank’s decision to play five across the back spoke of a nervousness and a lack of genuine belief and that was how his team played. Arsenal’s final goal – Eze’s third of the day – began with a Tottenham throw-in deep inside their opponents’ half. With nobody willing or available to receive it, the ball ended up with the goalkeeper and – subsequently lost on the back of a hopeful punt up field – was in the back of his net soon after.

Asked about this, Frank didn’t deem it significant. He said it would only be a bad sign had the score been 0-0 or 0-1. The insinuation was that the game was already gone so it didn’t really matter.

But he’s wrong about that. At a big club like Spurs – eighth on the Forbes rich list now their new stadium is fully bedded in – all the details matter and at the moment Frank’s team are coming out on the wrong side of too many.

Against Chelsea at home, Tottenham managed only one shot on target and, in losing 1-0, finished the game with an XG (expected goals) of 0.05. Against Manchester United, they led 2-1 seven minutes into added time against ten men and conceded an equaliser to an unmarked player at a corner.

Away from home they have been a little better, adding wins at Everton, Leeds and West Ham to that early scalping of City at the Etihad.

But currently Tottenham are trending backwards with those fans not arguing that Frank is the wrong man preferring to ask questions once again of the club’s recruitment.

Injuries are hurting Spurs for sure. Centre forward Dominic Solanke is missing while so too is the club’s best player Dejan Kulusevski and the talented James Maddison. But what is to be made of summer signings such as Xavi Simons, Mathys Tel and Mohammed Kudus, three young forward players who cost £150m and have so far contributed three league goals between them? That’s the same number as central defender Micky van de Ven has scored on his own.

Simons and Tel are only 22 and 20 years of age. They are young players who may improve. But a Tottenham policy of buying young emerging talent – led by joint sporting directors Johan Lange and Fabio Paratici – has to pay off at some stage because Frank’s team need some oven-ready top-flight players right now.

Last season, as manager Ange Postecoglou struggled under a weight of a huge injury list, a previous batch of future stars – Archie Gray, Wilson Odobert, Lucas Bergvall and Mikey Moore – came to the fore and did well in patches. Perhaps understandably, their impact has waned a little. Indeed 18-year-old Moore – a rare ray of hope from the Spurs academy – is currently on loan at Rangers.

Frank has already referenced Postecoglou’s 17th placed finish last season as a reason to feel some progress has been made and – with Spurs in mid-table - it should not be dismissed. Postecoglou’s brand of explosive chaos could not go on.

The challenge for Frank now is to prove he can bring an upgrade that sustains. There have been some moments of clarity, days when a plan appeared to be forming. A solid base, some counter-attack football. But there has been no consistency and that’s killing him.

At the moment it’s neither old school Brentford or classic Tottenham or anything much in between. On Sunday on a dark winter’s day at the Emirates, it was hard to know what it was and that’s a bit of a worry.

Former Tottenham star Mauricio Taricco has been handed a five-match ban for making a racist 'slanted-eye' gesture from the dugout while overseeing a K-League match in South Korea.

The Argentina star spent six years at the north London club between 1998 and 2004 and also enjoyed stints at Ipswich, West Ham, and Brighton during his time on English soil.

After going into management - which he first tried on the south coast alongside his playing career as an assistant in 2009 - Taricco has seen out assistant coaching spells at Sunderland, AEK Athens, and the Greek national team, among other sides, before landing at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

Taricco has held his role since 2024, but found himself in hot water when he made the highly offensive gesture at the referee during their November 8 game against Daejeon Hana Citizen FC.

The 52-year-old became embroiled in an argument with the official over appealing for a penalty on behalf of his side during the clash, which Jeonbuk went on to win 3-1.

Taricco is said to have then yelled 'racist' at the referee in Spanish before performing the gesture.

Taricco was immediately sent off by the official.

After being charged by the K-League, Taricco claimed in a statement to their disciplinary committee that he had been gesturing that the referee had not seen a handball which he believed had been committed.

But as per the committee's ruling, Taricco's alleged intentions were beside the point.

'The disciplinary committee stated that 'the evaluation of a specific act should be based on the universal meaning of the act as expressed, rather than the perpetrator's stated intentions', the K-League said in a statement.

'Based on these criteria, coach Taricco's actions were identical to the widely known "slant-eye" derogatory gesture against Asians and sufficiently inflicted feelings of racial insult on the recipient.'

Taricco also received a fine totalling £10,336 (20,000,000 won).

Arsenal went six points clear at the top of the table and continued their home dominance in the north London derby with a 4-1 thrashing of a struggling Tottenham side at the Emirates on Sunday evening.

Former Spurs target - who was swiped under Thomas Frank's nose by Mikel Arteta - Eberechi Eze was the man of the hour as he scored the first hat-trick in a meeting between the two sides since 1978, but even without the stardust offered up by their summer signing, Arsenal looked in perpetually in control as Tottenham created little.

A shock consolation goal from Richarlison helped put the visitors on the scoresheet, but as the hosts burnished their title-winning credentials, Tottenham looked way off the mark.

Here, Daily Mail Sport's Football Editor IAN LADYMAN looks at four of the biggest talking points from an intriguing derby day.

Reality dawns on Frank

At least Thomas Frank now knows what it really means to be a Tottenham manager. It’s not acceptable to lose like this. Not at Arsenal, not without really ever trying to win.

Frank will argue that going toe to toe with the best team in the Premier League is asking for trouble and he may have a point.

The problem is that the way he went about this game was tantamount to surrender and that whiff of inferiority will follow him until he gets the chance to put right – if he last that long, of course.

The Dane is a bright guy. He knows how football works. He knows to organise a football team. Equally, he knows what perception is and here he looked for all the world as though he brought Tottenham across north London not to win but to try not to lose.

That’s okay if you are manager of Brentford, where every point you get against a big club is a mini-triumph, a strike against the head. It’s simply not good enough when you are in charge at Spurs, a club with aspirations of European credibility.

Frank’s 5-3-2 formation was a love letter to pragmatism. Stay in the game and then hope was the intention. But it was doomed from the start. How were Spurs supposed to get and keep the ball when they were always a man down in midfield? How were they were supposed to get any possession in the final third if their only out ball was a long pass up to Richarlison who would not be a target man even if he wore stilts?

The days of Ange Postecoglou’s daring and expansive football are gone and Tottenham fans should not yearn for them. They led this great football club all the way down to 17th place last season.

Equally Frank must find a way to satisfy both ends of football’s oldest equations if he is to survive at Spurs. They must be tighter than they were under his predecessor and they must be less chaotic. But they must have the courage to play some football too.

The first half was always likely to dictate how this game played out and by the midway point Spurs were 2-0 down, hadn’t had a shot or a corner and had mustered only two touches in the Arsenal penalty box. It spoke volumes.

Frank had come here looking for a tight contest and didn’t get one. As a result his club’s greatest rivals handed him a lesson he must learn quickly.

Palhinha is not the problem

Tottenham midfielder Joao Palhinha had hit back at Jamie Carragher’s assertion that he isn’t good enough for the Premier League by calling the Sky Sports pundit ‘embarrassing’. The truth of the matter is that the Portuguese holding player is the least of Tottenham’s problems.

Every team needs a dogged midfielder to tackle and read games and break up play. If they can get on the ball and pass and play as well then all the better.

And Palhinha - once of Fulham and then of Bayern Munich - is not the worst at that bit.

His most notable contribution here saw him dispossess Martin Zubimendi with a lunging tackle in the centre circle in the second half and that enabled Richarlison to beat David Raya from distance and at least give this game a bit of a competitive edge for a while.

Tottenham are missing ball players in midfield. Dejan Kulusevski is the best player at the club and can play centrally while James Maddison is also injured. They are both huge losses. Spurs will be better for their return but none of it will really matter if Frank doesn’t ask his players to be brave enough to get on the ball and play.

Richarlison will never be the answer

Richarlison took his chance instinctively well. It was a terrific bit of skill, given that Raya would have backpedalled and intercepted anything but the perfect shot. Nevertheless, Tottenham will not go where they want to go with the Brazilian playing up front.

Through his time at Watford and Everton and now at Spurs, a player with cumulative transfer fees of more than £100m has shown himself to be a forward of the occasional big moment rather than someone who can be relied upon consistently.

When he was first bought from Everton in the summer of 2022, it was thought he would play on one side of Harry Kane with Heung Min Son on the other. Here, with Spurs short of options, he was asked to play through the middle.

The 28-year-old is not robust enough or willing enough to do that job and away from home when possession is scarce, the lack of an out-ball will always hurt a team. Tottenham simply have too many forward players of which not enough is really known or proven.

Why, for example, did the Spurs recruitment team pay £55m for Mohammed Kudus instead of throwing money at West Ham to try and get Jarrod Bowen instead? Bowen would have been a perfect replacement for Son and the word is that he may well have come. Kudus, by comparison, looks like a frivolous decoration.

Arteta got his big call right

What a day for Eberechi Eze. A player who almost joined Spurs in the summer chose this day of all days to produce the performance of is life for the club he supported as a boy.

We should have known what was coming the moment he scooped a fabulous pass through to Declan Rice in just the third minute. That almost led to the first goal and pretty much everything the England player did after that was laced with quality.

But perhaps Mikel Arteta will be best pleased with a decision he saw born out at the other end of the field.

Injuries played a part in derailing last season’s title challenge and losing central defender Gabriel to a problem picked up on international duty asked Arteta a big question ahead of this game.

His decision to hand Piero Hincapie a first Premier League start was a big one. He could have asked Ben White to step in. But Arteta trusted the Ecuadorian – on loan from Bayer Leverkusen – and it paid off.

‘He has title winning experience in Germany,’ was Arteta’s pre-match rationale.

Squads, rather than teams, win titles and maybe, at the fourth time of asking, Arsenal maybe where they need to be in that regard.