‘Pain’: Ange Postecoglou ‘exposed’ after six-minute Tottenham car crash

Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham have suffered a historic defeat with the Australian coach coming under fire in the late drama.

Tottenham Hotspur's Greek-Australian Head Coach Ange Postecoglou. Photo by Darren Staples / AFP.

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said his under-strength side ran out of gas after Wolves struck twice in stoppage time to snatch a dramatic 2-1 win on Sunday morning.

Brennan Johnson’s first Spurs goal looked set to send Tottenham back above Manchester City to the top of the Premier League.

But after being wasteful for the first 90 minutes, Wolves found their shooting boots in added time.

Substitute Pablo Sarabia smashed home the equaliser in the 91st minute before Mario Lemina steered in the winner in the 97th minute.

To make matters even worse, Postecoglou’s men have been leapfrogged by Arsenal and now sit third on the table.

Wolverhampton’s win was just the eighth time a side has won a Premier League game having trailed going into the 90th minute. It was a stoppage time car crash.

Spurs have now suffered back-to-back defeats after losing for the first time in the league under Postecoglou on Monday when Chelsea emerged from north London 4-1 victors after an action-packed encounter.

Sunday morning’s loss is the first time Postecoglou has lost successive games as a manager in all competitions since doing so with Celtic in September 2021, according to Opta.

Ange Postecoglou didn’t have any answers. Photo by Darren Staples / AFP.

There were also longer lasting consequences for Spurs from defeat to Chelsea as influential summer signings Micky van de Ven and James Maddison were ruled out with injury until the new year.

Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were also suspended after being sent-off against Chelsea and Postecoglou conceded Spurs paid for the number of changes they were forced to make.

“Wolves were always going to come on strong. We probably ran out of a little bit of legs there which is understandable, a lot of those guys haven’t played and they scored a couple of good goals,” said Postecoglou.

There were no signs of a hangover early on as Postecoglou’s men made a perfect start.

Pedro Porro’s low cross picked out Johnson at the near post and the Welshman prodded in his first goal since a £47.5 million ($58 million) move from Nottingham Forest.

Mario Lemina scored the winner. Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images.

That was as potent as the Tottenham attack were all game as the visitors were eventually made to pay for relying on a makeshift defence.

“I thought we could have been a bit more positive,” added Postecoglou. “Scoring early, we played a bit more conservatively.”

“We made so many changes so we’re not going to get the same sort of fluency. The second half I thought wasn’t too bad.

“Maybe because we were winning the game and a lot of those guys haven’t played that many games, there was a bit of self-preservation - just get through to the end. It’s understandable.”

Asked about the mood in the Spurs dressing room after back-to-back defeats, the manager said: “Disappointed, obviously. It’s part of the pain in football. You’ve just got to take it.

Ange Postecoglou. Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images.

Sky Sports analyst Joe Shread described it as a “reality check” for Spurs.

“There wasn’t much of anything from Tottenham,” he said.

“Postecoglou said after the game that his side’s lack of fluency was to be expected given their absentees, and Wolves are no pushovers under O’Neil. Just ask Manchester City.

“But it’s fair to argue that this display exposed the lack of depth in Spurs’ squad that, really, everyone knew existed.”

He went on to say: “This is no time for doom and gloom. Spurs are still in the top four - more than anyone expected at this stage - and the progress under Postecoglou is undeniable.

“But this was a reality check for anyone who believed Tottenham had the depth to maintain their imperious start throughout a gruelling season.”

Wolverhampton Wanderers Mario Lemina celebrates with teammate. Photo by Darren Staples / AFP.

Guglielmo Vicario turned behind Lemina’s powerful shot with Wolves best effort of the first half.

After the break, Gary O’Neil’s men were guilty of failing to even making the Spurs’ stopper work in their search for an equaliser.

Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-Chan and Sasa Kalajdzic all failed to hit the target with big chances to level.

Johnson had Tottenham’s one major opportunity to extend their lead on the counter-attack, but this time got his finish wrong as an attempted chip sailed wide.

Wolves finally produced the moment of quality required in the final third when Sarabia connected sweetly on the volley to meet Cunha’s cross.

Sarabia then turned provider for the winner with 96 minutes on the clock as Lemina slid in to turn the Spanish international’s pass beyond the despairing dive of Vicario.

“The belief to score one then stay on the front foot and score another one shows how far we’ve come,” said O’Neil.

“I didn’t want to leave here today off the back of a good performance but still on 12 points, still looking at the teams below us, so to get to 15 is a big achievement for us.”

Victory lifts Wolves up to 12th, nine points clear of the relegation zone.

— with AFP

Originally published as ‘Pain’: Ange Postecoglou ‘exposed’ after six-minute Tottenham car crash