Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou is appreciative of the effort that his team put into their match against Premier League defending champions Manchester City, especially in the second half.
Spurs have always been one of Pep Guardiola’s tougher opponents regardless of their manager in all of his seven years at Manchester City. His first meeting with Postecoglou’s Spurs proved no different as Guardiola’s team went down to a goal in the sixth minute.
Captain Son Heung-Min went from hero to villain after opening the scoring against City when he scored an own goal to restore parity for the hosts. Phil Foden put the defending champions 2-1 up in the 31st minute. The half ended with both teams having a go at each other furiously but the scoreline did not change.
The second half, however, was all Spurs. Captain Son provided the assist to Giovanni Lo Celso for the North London side’s equaliser and was involved in a lot of attacks which City’s defence had a tough time stopping. The second half ended with the same scoreline as the first half did but the scores were reversed to make it 3 – 3 at full time.
There was a VAR controversy that could have seen City keep all three points but many would agree that Spurs more than deserved to go home with something.
Postecoglou made sure to focus on the positives from the game in his post-match interviews. He touched a little on the first half but spent most of his comments showering praises on his team for keeping the champions on their toes for the whole of the second half.
“First half, we were lucky to be in the game,” the Australian began. “We lacked a bit of belief and conviction. They are a fantastic team and could have blown us away, a bit like us against Villa last week, where we missed chances and that keeps the opposition in the game.
“We were still in the game at half-time, so that gave me a chance to give the players some belief in terms of just being themselves and backing themselves a bit more.
“I thought the second half was outstanding, not letting the game get away from us, hanging in there, making the game uncomfortable for City. At no stage could they just control the game, we were pressing, keeping the ball and it’s because of that I’m really pleased we got our reward.
“Against a team like City, you’re not going to create a lot of chances, particularly here, so when they come along you have to show quality to take them. Now we’ve got the rewards for that, I’m sure it will help the players in our process in continuing to believe in the team we want to be.”
