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LONDON — You could feel the relief in the stands at the final whistle when Tottenham fans lept from their seats, as head coach Ange Postecoglou strolled calmly onto the pitch and the song “Glory, Glory Tottenham Hotspur” rang out of the stadium speakers.
That song may not seem fitting these days. Nobody here needs reminding that it has been almost 17 years since Spurs last won a trophy. However, in Postecoglou’s second season at the helm, the clear goal is to end that streak.
Wednesday night’s narrow 2-1 victory over Manchester City takes them into the Carabao Cup quarterfinals and one step closer to being able to do that. Their performance, though, potentially leaves questions about whether this side can achieve it.
“I thought we defended well because we really didn’t give away too many clear-cut opportunities,” Postecoglou said.
“We had some really good chances to finish the game off, which we didn’t take but great resilience by the boys to open out play.”
There are clear positives to be taken from the game. Beating City — a team Postecoglou described as the “gold standard” — is never to be scoffed at. They’re the first team to do that this season, the first since Manchester United in last season’s FA Cup final.
“They [City] can ask every question there is and for the most part I thought we had it,” Postecoglou said. He will grin, too, his side showing a refreshing look of pragmatism, with their two holding midfielders mostly keeping City at bay.
Maybe, then, it’s harsh to pour water on a Tottenham win — “ultimately,” Postecoglou said, “the main thing you’ve got to do is to win” — but questions over whether they are ready to end the trophy drought remain.
This game was theirs for the taking. City named a weakened starting XI, and it took just five minutes for Timo Werner to net his first goal of the season after Dejan Kulusevski picked him out at the back post with a low cross toward the opposite side of the box. Pape Matar Sarr followed that up 20 minutes later, with a superb curled effort from outside the box that found the bottom right-hand corner.
Yet, even with that two-goal lead in the first half, Spurs failed to capitalise and never looked suitably assured. The missed chances stacked up. In the first half, Werner was gifted the ball by a stray and sloppy İlkay Gündoğan pass on City’s 18-yard box. The German forward should have scored, but he only found goalkeeper Stefan Ortega‘s gloves. When City reduced the deficit to just one goal when Matheus Nunes tapped home at the back post on the stroke of half-time, Spurs’ task turned to a consolidation job.
The second half brought more missed attempts. Werner squandered a one-on-one just minutes after the restart before Kulusevski did the same on the other side. Later on, substitute Richarlison had the best of the bunch, being gifted a one-on-one of his own through an errant City throw-in, but again Spurs failed to convert.
Meanwhile, after seeing Savinho substituted through injury, City almost levelled through teenager Nico O’Reilly, only for Yves Bissouma to make a heroic block on the line.
Spurs have been criticised this season for failing to see games out, most recently throwing away a two-goal first-half lead at Brighton & Hove Albion. Domestically, this is their first victory this season by a single goal — this time they took a punch and stayed standing. Maybe in that light, lacking ruthlessness but showing resoluteness will come as little concern for Postecoglou.
The Australian has been adamant over his ability to turn the tide at Spurs, from removing the “Spursy” tag to hoping he can continue his streak of lifting a trophy in his second season in charge at a club.
“It’s about trying to continually push this group to become the team we want to be,” he added.
“We’re not there yet, that’s fair to say. As I said yesterday, I’m really bullish on this group of players. They’ve got a really high ceiling and we’ve just got to keep focusing on that.”
Spurs fans will be praying Postecoglou is right. They sang with relief after the final whistle. “Glory, Glory Tottenham Hotspur” continued over the speakers, followed by Gala’s “Freed from Desire.” Spurs fans were bouncing.
An hour later, though, came more sobering news. Tottenham were drawn to face Manchester United at home in the quarterfinals. It means another difficult draw as they bid to lift their first trophy since 2008 and cutting short that feeling of relief.