Postecoglou: Tottenham ´dominated in all areas´ in second half against Man City

Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham were dominant in all areas in the second half of Wednesday’s defeat to Manchester City, saying their display is something to build on.

Erling Haaland’s 12th-minute strike condemned Spurs to defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where they struggled to create clear-cut chances before half-time.

But Postecoglou’s men came on strong in the second half, with Wilson Odobert, Son Heung-min and Pape Sarr missing golden opportunities to equalise.

Spurs lost the expected goals (xG) battle 1.91 to 0.06 in the first half, but won it by 1.1 to 0.18 in the second period, limiting City to one shot on target after the interval.

It was just the fourth time Spurs had lost and failed to score in a home match under Postecoglou, with three of those being defeats to City (also 0-1 in January 2024 and 0-2 in May 2024).

Despite Tottenham staying rooted in the bottom half of the Premier League table following their 14th loss of the season, Postecoglou saw plenty of encouraging signs.

“In the first half we had to hang in there, we created a couple chances, but we were wasteful with the ball,” he told BBC Sport’s Match of the Day.

“In the second half, we dominated in all areas but missed a goal to get something out of the game.

“We always knew we would finish strongly. We always do, but in the first half, we turned the ball over too many times. If you do that against City, you allow them to get into a rhythm.

“With some cleaner final-third entries we could have had some more chances.”

Postecoglou opted to shuffle his pack after Saturday’s 4-1 win at Ipswich Town, with Dejan Kulusevski and Son starting on the bench.

But he did not feel that decision had a bearing on the result, saying Spurs looked revitalised when he introduced the duo as part of a quadruple substitution in the 66th minute.

“It’s disappointing to lose again and that’s the main feeling. It did look more like us today. At least from my perspective.

“We were really relentless. We played aggressive football. We took it to a very good opponent. We never tapered off at all.

“If anything, like you said, bringing the guys on made us stronger towards the end of the game.

“It was disappointing to lose, but I think you saw the benefit of us being refreshed and going into a game well-prepared.”

“That level of performance in the second half… if we can begin to get consistent with that, then we will be able to push on.”

Tottenham are next in action against AZ in eight days’ time, in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie.