Ange Postecoglou has said his side’s 4-3 defeat to Chelsea was ‘painful’ after watching his side blow a two-goal lead to lose.
After fans voiced their frustration following the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth in midweek, Spurs started the game with real intensity to race into a two-nil lead.
Following a slip from Marc Cucurella, Dominic Solanke turned in Brennan Johnson’s cross against his former club. Another Cucurella stumble then led to Dejan Kulusevski doubling the lead.
Jadon Sancho pulled one back almost instantly for Chelsea, who turned the game around after the break. Cole Palmer scored two penalties – including an outrageous Panenka – with Enzo Fernandez also on target for the Blues. Heung-min Son scored in stoppage time but it was too little too late.
Postecoglou’s side have now won just one of their last seven in all competitions and sit in the Premier League’s bottom half. The Australian’s misery was compounded by Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven being forced off with issues on their respective returns from injury.
“It’s a sore one for sure, it’s painful. We started the game really well and then we lose Cristian Romero and we had to reshuffle,” Postecoglou said to Sky Sports.
“We still had some big moments to get a third and finish it off. The second half was a ding-dong for long and then they scored. The two penalties weren’t great, we need a bit of discipline in the box.
“It’s a key point when you lose a key player in the first 20 minutes, He couldn’t continue so it’s not ideal.
“We didn’t play well in midweek but we did today. They’re a top side, you have got to give credit to them. We got distracted in key moments. We need to realise we are tough to stop when we do play our football. The two penalties were poor. When you’re playing these top teams, the momentum shifts quickly.”
