Spurs gifted opener in Champions League with own goal as Slavia Prague defender bizarrely powers header into own net

Tottenham were gifted their opener against Slavia Prague in the Champions League with defender David Zima planting a header past his own goalkeeper.

Spurs had been pushing for an opener for much of the opening 25 minutes of the game but, aside from an early Richarlison header which probably should have found the net after 45 seconds, they had struggled to create many clear-cut chances.

Thomas Frank’s men have struggled at home in the Premier League having won only two of their eight games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, so a helping hand from an opposing defender will have been a welcome surprise.

After Pedro Porro’s teasing corner was swung in, Cristian Romero flicked a header into the danger zone, which bamboozled Zima as he struggled to adjust his body in time before powering a header past the goalkeeper.

In real time, it almost looked as though Zima had forgotten which end of the pitch he was at, with the powerful nod providing an example to Richarlison, who had not put enough venom on his header early on.

Coincidentally, the goal will go down in history not only for its uniquness but also for the fact it was Spurs’ 100th goal in the Champions League, having made their debut in the competition back in 2010.

Tottenham starting lineup vs Slavia Prague

Tottenham starting XI: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Spence, Palhinha, Gray, Kudus, Xavi, Odobert, Richarlison

Tottenham subs: Kinsky, Gunter, Danso, Tel, Bergvall, Sarr, Bentancur, Davies, Kolo Muani, Scarlett, Olusesi, Williams-Barnett

Frank has made two adjustments to the lineup that overcame Brentford last weekend.

Randal Kolo Muani and Rodrigo Bentancur move to the bench, with Joao Palhinha and Wilson Odobert stepping into the starting XI.

Meanwhile, Mathys Tel is named among the substitutes after being drafted in late to replace Dominic Solanke in Spurs’ Champions League squad.

Slavia Prague starting lineup vs Slavia Prague

Slavia Prague starting XI: Stanek, Holes, Chaloupek, Ogbu, Zima, Doudera, Moses, Provod, Sadilek, Sanyang, Chytu

Slavia Prague subs: Markovic, Cham, Hashioka, Kusej, Zafeiris, Mbodji, Boril, Oscar, Chory, Schranz, Vlcek, Prekop

How to watch Spurs v Slavia: TV channel, live online stream

Kick-off on Tuesday is at 20:00 GMT (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT). Live TV coverage in the UK is on TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate and the Discovery Plus app.

TNT Sports costs £29.99 a month through discovery+, which includes Eurosport and entertainment and is available on a vast range of devices including smart TVs and gaming consoles.

Tottenham v Slavia Prague stats

• Tottenham are unbeaten in their four previous meetings with Slavia Praha (W3 D1) and in their last seven European fixtures against Czech opposition (W5 D2), with their sole defeat to Czech opposition a 1-0 loss to Dukla Praha in the first leg of a European Cup quarter-final in February 1962.
• Spurs are unbeaten in their last 22 European home games (W18 D4) and have won their previous two such matches this season without conceding
• They are one goal shy of their 100th in the Champions League proper
• Goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky played 30 time for Slavia before joining Tottenham in January
• Only Arsenal (4) have more clean sheets than Spurs (3) in this season’s competition
• Slavia have won two of their previous 16 UEFA club competition matches against English teams (D4 L10)
• They are winless in their last 16 matches in the Champions League proper (D7 L9) since a 2-1 home victory against Steaua in September 2007.
• The Czech side have not scored a goal in their last four Champions League matches
• Trpisovsky’s players have made the most tackles (110) of any squad in this season’s competition, one ahead of Union SG
• Only Athletic Club’s Aitor Paredes (55) has made more ball recoveries than Slavia’s David Zima (42) in the 2025/26 Champions League