Spurs 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt | Ange’s verdict: “I couldn’t have asked for more”

Ange Postecoglou said he was proud of the performance after dominating the second half of our UEFA Europa League quarter-final, first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt without the goals to show for it as it ended 1-1 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday night.

The visitors took an early lead through Hugo Ekitike with six minutes on the clock, but we responded superbly and levelled 20 minutes later, superb work from James Maddison matched by Pedro Porro’s instinctive backheel finish.

The second half was particularly impressive. We created chance after chance only to strike the woodwork three times via Lucas Bergvall’s piledriver, Rodrigo Bentancur’s header and Micky van de Ven's header in added time, tipped onto the crossbar by goalkeeper Kaua Santos, who also used his 6ft 5ins frame to divert Heung-Min Son’s curler away from of the top corner. Brennan Johnson also blasted over a carbon copy chance of his opening goal against Southampton and we got into numerous dangerous areas without the ball falling our way.

Speaking on our Review Show, Ange reflected: “I couldn’t ask more from the boys in terms of performance. Obviously, conceding the goal early wasn’t ideal. It’s a fair strike, he nailed it, but I thought our response was really good. We played our football, stayed patient, equalised with a great goal and in the second half, totally dominated. On another night, you walk away with a comfortable win, but it’s not going to be the season where it’s given to us, we’re going to have to earn everything we get. We’ll have to go there, fight for our lives and try to get through.”

The second leg follows next Thursday, 17 April (8pm UK).

It was a night of fine margins, Ange, like Lucas’ strike...

Ange: “Yes, outstanding. Their goalkeeper was outstanding as well, we hit the crossbar three times, we had some other, great opportunities. It is fine margins, but I’ve always had the belief if you continue to perform, those fine margins eventually drop for you. We’re certainly due something to drop for us, hopefully that happens next week.”

You always talk about the importance of the performance - you must have been proud of that...

“Yes, I was proud. I couldn’t ask for more. We were controlled, they didn’t create much when they did get forward, we were disciplined, our ability to consistently keep pushing on, keep creating great opportunities, being relentless. Destiny… the amount of running he did tonight was unbelievable. The whole group was determined to get something out of the tie. It didn’t work out for us tonight, but a repeat of that performance… we’ll still have a very good chance.”

Clive Allen: “We’re in with a realistic chance, especially if we can create chances like that...”

Ange: “I said to the boys, you can be disappointed with the result, but not the performance. If we repeat that performance next week, we’ll give ourselves a great chance. There is no reason why we can’t. They not going to change their approach, we won’t change ours, so we can go there, play in the same manner and the fine margins that went against us today, hopefully go our way.”

In terms of selection... it looks like you got what you wanted, especially from your full-backs...

“I thought both full-backs were brilliant. We’re in a good position now where we could rest Micky and Destiny at the weekend, so they had some real energy, knowing we’d need that tonight. You saw the amount of work Destiny needed to do. I thought the guys coming on made a big difference for us as well, added real energy. If you think about next week, when the game could go to extra time, we’ll need everyone ready to go, and I thought there were some really positive signs.”

Finally, did everyone come through okay?

“Yes, I think everyone got through it. Obviously, a few tied legs. Destiny was cramp, Micky was cramping at the end, but they’ve missed a lot of football this year. Everyone looks like they’ve got through okay.”