Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has voiced his frustration with his team’s luck in front of goal during their Europa League quarterfinal first-leg draw with Eintracht Frankfurt and said his team has fallen out of favour with the “football gods” this season.
Pedro Porro’s clever finish earned Spurs a 1-1 draw in north London after Hugo Ekitike gave the visitors an early lead, but Postecoglou’s team wasted a host of chances to take a healthy lead into the second leg in Germany next week.
Lucas Bergvall came close when he hit the frame of the goal in the 55th minute before Rodrigo Bentancur’s header hit the crossbar moments later. Frankfurt goalkeeper Kauã Santos put in an outstanding performance in goal to deny Spurs, with his stoppage-time save from Micky van de Ven’s header denying the hosts a late win.
“I’m resigned to the fact that the football gods have got their eyes elsewhere this year. They’re obviously busy with other clubs and other managers so whatever we get, we’re going to have to do it without them this year,” Postecoglou told a post-match news conference.
The Australian coach’s second season in charge of Spurs has been a disastrous one. An injury crisis which laid low several key first team players combined with consistently poor performances have left the club languishing in 14th place in the Premier League table, having lost more than half their games.
The Europa League represents Spurs’ last chance to salvage something from their season and end the club’s 17-year trophy drought in the process.
Spurs may not have secured the victory they sought on Thursday, but Postecoglou highlighted the performances of several of his players and expressed his happiness with the team’s display.
Asked about the performance of Bergvall, Postecoglou said: “He was great but the whole team was. I thought Rodri [Rodrigo Bentancur] was outstanding. Both full-backs defensively and with the ball were really causing problems. Cuti [Cristian Romero] and Micky [van de Ven] handled their front threats really well apart from the goal we conceded which was the only disappointing bit.
“The front three were working with Madders [James Maddison] and were really creative. You can’t ask any more from the lads than what the lads did, especially in that second half to create that many chances. We don’t get the win but I can’t ask [for] any more from the players.”
Tottenham travel to face Wolverhampton Wanderers in their next Premier League fixture on Sunday before they travel to Frankfurt for the second leg of the quarterfinal clash with Frankfurt in a week’s time.