Tottenham leading and then dropping points has become a bit of a habit this season but, according to manager Jose Mourinho, it is not his fault.

The 58-year-old has earned a reputation as a master tactician and defensive-minded coach, but his Spurs side have now lost 15 points from winning positions this campaign after Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Newcastle.

Tottenham fell behind at St James’ Park through Joelinton’s precise finish, but Harry Kane’s double put them ahead, before on-loan Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock pounced on a loose ball to earn Newcastle a point with an 85th-minute strike.

So, who is to blame for letting leads slip?

“Same coach, different players,” was Mourinho’s response when reporters pointed out his teams are usually good at defending leads.

The latest setback saw them miss out on climbing back into the top four – and a Champions League qualification spot – for the first time since 2 January, after Chelsea’s defeat by West Brom.

Eleven of those 15 dropped points have been lost in the final 10 minutes of games – the most of any side in the Premier League – while the north London side have also failed to win six games in which they led at half-time, again the most in the league.

So how does that compare with Mourinho’s time at other Premier League clubs?

His side only need to drop one more point from a winning position for it to be the worst season in that regard – with his 2014-15 Chelsea side also dropping 15 points.

During his initial three-year spell at Stamford Bridge, which covered 120 games, he only dropped 14 points from winning positions. His Manchester United side dropped 18 in just over two seasons.

Asked if he has more work to do with Spurs’ players, Mourinho said: “I don’t think so. We work well, we work hard.

“But there are mistakes which I probably shouldn’t even call mistakes because they are related to qualities that players have.

“Looking at the second goal, it’s easy to understand because there’s three different moments – the cross, the ball at the far post where they won it, and then the ball in the face of the goal where our two centre-backs were in position. You can analyse it easily.”

And speaking to Match of the Day, Mourinho added: “It’s not just about the defensive mistakes that lead to goals. We have situations where we have the ball and I know already the ball is going to end with [keeper] Hugo Lloris.

“That’s the way we sometimes create instability to ourselves.”

Real Sociedad ended a 34-year wait for the Copa del Rey by beating Athletic Bilbao in a tight final in Seville.

After a five-minute VAR review of the decision to award a penalty, Mikel Oyarzabal sent the keeper the wrong way to win the 2019-20 trophy for Sociedad.

Inigo Martinez was initially sent off for fouling Portu in the box but the decision was downgraded to a yellow.

Bilbao face Barcelona in this season’s final on 17 April, looking to end their own 37-year wait in the competition.

In a game of few chances, Martinez came closest for Bilbao with a 25-yard effort that was tipped over the bar in the first half.

Former Manchester City midfielder David Silva played 85 minutes for Sociedad while ex-Arsenal left-back Nacho Monreal lasted the full game.

The two sides meet again in La Liga on Wednesday, with Sociedad currently sixth and Bilbao ninth

Team Delta started the 2020 National Sports Festival where they left it after emerging overall champions in 2018.

Delta State Cyclist, Ese Ukpeseraye, emerged the first Gold Medalist on Day One of the National Sports Festival tagged EDO 2020 after finishing ahead of 12 other competitors in the 80 km Cycling road race.

Ukpeseraye beat two siblings; Comfort and Grace Ayuba from host state Edo to the Silver and Bronze medal positions to further deepen the rivalry between the two rival state.

Team Delta is the chosen champions in this year’s tournament, however, there will be tough competition from Lagos, Edo and Rivers.

Confirming this to the media, Dr Obi, the Incident Manager Covid-19 Response, Edo State revealed that seven affected persons have been moved to Stella Obasanjo Isolation Centre where medical team are attending to them to get them back to their fitness level.

The other three were tested positive this morning and are still at the Hall 2 where the tests were conducted.

“So far, we have ten persons tested positive and seven of them have been moved to the Stella Obasanjo Isolation Centre. They will be there taking their doses until they’re declared fit enough to get back into the public.” Dr Obi explained.

Meanwhile, athletes and officials of Team Kogi conducted their PCR tests before coming to Edo for the tournament. This, against the governor’s strong conviction that there is no Covid-19 in the state. The athletes stated that they were forced into conducting the PCR tests. And when they went through the test, no one was tested positive.

The French Open could be postponed because of a surge in coronavirus cases in France, the country’s sports minister Roxana Maracineanu says.

France entered a third nationwide lockdown on Saturday, which president Emmanuel Macron said he expected to end in mid-May.

The Grand Slam is due to take place at Roland Garros from 23 May to 6 June, with qualifying the week before.

In 2020, it was postponed to the autumn because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are in discussion with [the French Tennis Federation] to see if we should change the date to coincide with a possible resumption of all sports and major events,” Maracineanu told France Info radio.

“Today, although high-level sport has been preserved, we try to limit the risks of clusters, of spreading the virus within professional sports.”

The EFL have confirmed the Carabao Cup final has been selected as one of the UK government’s trial events to test the return of fans to stadiums.

It was revealed late in March that a handful of events for various different sports, including the FA Cup semi-final between Southampton and Leicester, will be allowed to welcome a small number of fans to give health officials a better idea of how plausible a return to stadiums is.

The next event to be included in the Events Research Programme is the Carabao Cup final between Manchester City and Tottenham, which the EFL confirmed on their official website will now be played in front of 8,000 fans.

A percentage of those 8,000 tickets will be offered up to both clubs’ fan base, with the remaining seats given to local residents and NHS staff.

“The Carabao Cup is a prized asset of the EFL, a great competition for clubs to win and always a fantastic occasion so we are absolutely delighted to see supporters back for the 2021 Final, in what will hopefully be another important milestone along the way to a full return of fans,” EFL chairman Rick Parry.

“Football has lots of expertise in crowd management so we welcome the opportunity to support the Government in its Events Research Programme and will also take great pride in hosting NHS staff at the final to whom we owe so much for their momentous efforts throughout the pandemic.

“The EFL’s broad objective has always been to seek fans return to stadia as soon as it is safe to do so and we welcome the opportunity to play our part working collaboratively with Wembley Stadium, local authorities and specialists overseeing the research programme.

“These collective efforts will be crucial as we seek a return for fans of EFL clubs for the Play-Offs and start of the 2021/22 season, so that our members can plan with confidence.cup-final-to-host-8000-fans-at-wembley

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden added: “Our sports stars and great performers need us to find ways to get bums back on seats safely. This science-led pilot programme will be the springboard in getting the buzz back of live performance. We’ve supported the sports and arts with unprecedented sums, but it’s now time to make that Great British Summer of live events a reality.”

The Carabao Cup was initially scheduled for February but was pushed back to April 25 in the hope that the game could be played in front of fans, and while the EFL would have preferred a bigger crowd, this decision will be seen as a positive result by all.

Italian teenager Jannick Sinner reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final with a stunning victory at the Miami Open.

The 19-year-old world number 31 recovered from a break down in the final set to beat Spanish seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut 5-7 6-4 6-4.

He faces Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in Sunday’s final, after he beat Russian fourth seed Andrey Rublev 6-3 6-4.

“It sounds incredible to reach the final. I am very happy,” said French Open quarter-finalist Sinner.

“At the beginning, we were both a bit tight but it was windy today so I just tried to serve better, move him a bit more and mix it up – that was the key.”

The pair met last month in Dubai, with Sinner winning in three sets.

The 1000 events are the highest level of Masters tournaments on the ATP Tour.

He becomes the second-youngest Miami Open finalist after Rafael Nadal in 2005 and will be chasing his third career ATP title after winning last year in Sofia and an Australian Open warm-up tournament in Melbourne.

Nigeria’s national football team, the Super Eagles, who like the Biblical Noah’s weary dove that soared the earth around but not finding a resting place above and had to return to the Ark, have also returned to their traditional ground, Lagos.

President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick on Thursday, confirmed Lagos as the permanent home ground of Super Eagles.

The city of aquatic splendour has been the home ground of the national team since their first home game of 20 October 1951 when they thrashed Ghana (then Gold Coast) 5-0 at the Association Ground, the present day Mobolaji Johnson Arena at Onikan.

But since the Super Eagles’ 1-0 defeat of Zambia in a drab Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match of 13 January 2001, the Super Eagles became nomadic, searching endlessly, a comfortable nest.

Before then, Lagos, with its vociferous crowd and immense football supporter ship, has been a slaughter slab for many visiting African teams.

Even the legendary Samuel Eto’o in an interview recalled his goals against Nigeria at the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations, claiming that to score against Nigeria at the ‘sacred’ Surulere ground was not a mean achievement.

Little wonder the excitement that followed the return of Super Eagles to Lagos in the last match day of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

It was aptly dubbed: ‘Football Returns Home’. It now appears to have marked the end of nomadic nature the team assumed having to play home matches in Calabar, Port Harcourt, Asaba, Benin and Kaduna among others, abandoning the tradition of great team like England who have Wembley as their traditional home ground.

The Super Eagles will begin the qualifying campaign for one of the five African slots to the next FIFA World Cup in Qatar this June and this means that Teslim Balogun Stadium which played host to the 3-0 drubbing of Lesotho will stage the opening match against Lone Star of Liberia.

Other teams in Group C are Central African Republic and Cape Verde.

“Yes our return to Lagos is good for the players and the NFF as well going by logistics and within the next 10 days, we will conclude the ‘Memorandum of Understanding with Lagos State Government and this will lay to rest the idea of movement around the country”, This Day quoted Pinnick as saying.

“The players and the coaching crew are pleased with the excellent football pitch and this alone is a major factor and when we look at other logistics we need to put in place before any international match, Lagos venue comes handy.

“We want to have a hitch free qualification matches and that is not to take away the fact that Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta, Kano, Edo, Kaduna and Cross River that have hosted the team before now have no place in the history of the success of Super Eagles,” he explained.