As the unmarked Richarlison ballooned a header from inside the six yard box over the crossbar in the final seconds, Ange Postecoglou put his hands on his knees, bent over and looked at the ground.
His mood pretty much reflected that of the Tottenham supporters as the new Premier League campaign began in the way that too many of their games last season had gone - looking dominant, creating chances but not enough cutting edge in the final third.
Spurs did have a new £65million striker up front at the King Power Stadium in Dominic Solanke but he looked, in terms of his finishing, what he is - a player who hadn't played a game of football in almost a month.
The stats told the usual tale. Postecoglou's men had 15 shots at goal to Leicester's seven, with Mads Hermansen forced into five saves from their seven efforts on target. Guglielmo Vicario had to make three saves, although you could argue that the Italian's stops were more difficult as Spurs sent most of their efforts straight at the Foxes' goalkeeper.
Tottenham had 71% of the possession and registered 601 passes to the hosts' 211. Leicester had to make 38 clearances and five blocks to the visitors' 16 clearances and one block. It was the only football cliché. If you don't take your chances, you get punished.
Spurs started the game well, constantly finding space in behind the Leicester defence but the quality of the balls into Solanke and those in the box were consistently poor, whether from the wingers or the full-backs.
Pedro Porro can be considered exempt from that as he curled in some dangerous crosses and was rewarded with Tottenham's opening goal of the 2024/25 campaign, flicking on James Maddison's teasing ball into the net.
Yet Spurs did not build upon that moment. Brennan Johnson, who had earlier volleyed an effort straight at Hermansen, now fired a strike right across the face of goal. Rodrigo Bentancur sent an effort at the keeper after neat build-up play. After the break, Solanke had a shot pushed away following a threaded Pape Matar Sarr through ball.
Football punishes the profligate. With Leicester's first real chance of the game, Abdul Fatawu picked out Jamie Vardy at the back post to nod home unmarked, with Cristian Romero having left the former England striker all alone.
It was a moment that changed the whole mood within the stadium and Spurs had an awkward 20 minutes or so, with Vicario needing to deny the 37-year-old Vardy during a one-vs-one situation.
Then came a horrible collision for Bentancur, who appeared to be initially knocked out by an aerial clash of heads with Fatawu from a Spurs corner and fell hard to the ground. His team-mates immediately called for medical help.
The King Power Stadium was the scene of the Uruguayan's cruciate ligament injury 18 months ago and there was plenty of concern around him before he eventually sat up with the physios working on him.
He put himself on to the stretcher while taking on oxygen and was later spotted walking out of the stadium with the team, with two big bumps on his temple.
"I don't have a lot of information but I know he is up and he's communicating so he's fine from that point of view," Postecoglou told football.london after the game. "But obviously a head injury and I'll leave it in the hands of medical team now. The key thing is that he's definitely conscious and communicating."
The Australian was already set to making sweeping changes from his strong bench, with four players coming on. The visitors wrestled control back from Leicester with their changes somewhat but it needed Richarlison to head home that huge late chance instead of sending it high and wide.
"Disappointing outcome. Very dominant first half, really wasteful in front of goal. We started the second half similar. First 15-20 minutes very dominant, wasteful but you know at 1-0 there is always an opportunity for the opposition to come back into the game. That's what happened and we lost our way for 15 or 20 minutes," said Postecoglou.
"We lost our composure and the crowd got behind them, but again finished strong. Just really disappointed we lacked a little cutting edge in the front third, made some poor decisions, lacked some composure and didn't get the reward our football deserved."
He added: "Performance-wise everyone performed well. Ultimately it defeats the purpose of what we're trying to do and that's to win games of football, bridge the gap with the top teams and the performance of the players in general was very, very good, but we need to turn those good performances into outcomes."
Tottenham started last season with a draw at Brentford in Postecoglou's first game, a game in which they lost another South American to a head injury in Romero.
That day they also wasted chances, particularly in the second half. They have a better squad now and need to push on as they did after that match but with more consistency. This was an early lesson to be ruthless in both the creation and execution of opportunities.
Dominic Solanke's debut
Dominic Solanke will be what Tottenham need. There was enough about his debut and the 99 minutes or so he got in his legs to tease what will come as he finds his sharpness in the weeks ahead.
One positive was the 26-year-old's movement, which fell into two categories. The first was his movement in finding space and he did so to get to two headers in great positions as well as showing fast feet to fashion another couple of opportunities.
There was also his movement in pressing and giving the Leicester defence little time to react. Whoscored's stat-based ratings had Solanke as the third-best rated Spurs player on the night and fourth on the pitch.
He was inches away from an early goal after Bentancur's flick on and then sent three shots on target, embarked on three dribbles, played one key pass, made two tackles and won one aerial duel, even though he only touched the ball 35 times - the third lowest number of any of the starting players across both sides.
For context, Lucas Bergvall came off the bench and touched the ball 39 times in half an hour or so.
For a striker though it's about taking those chances and Vardy managed to hit the net with a display that only saw him touch the ball 19 times.
"Great [to wear the Spurs shirt]. I've been here for for just over a week now, and I've been looking forward to this moment," said Solanke in his club interview after the game. "It was great to play with the boys and in front of the fans, but disappointing not to get the three points. But we'll look to improve and hopefully get the three points next time.
"It's quite frustrating obviously not to get the three points, having played well and dominated the game for the majority. But it's the first game. We wanted to get the three points, but we can hopefully put it right next game.
"I think going into every game, that's what we want to do. We want to achieve big things this season, but I think we played well at times, but just weren't quite clinical enough. But there's a lot to look forward to."
Postecoglou was happy enough with Solanke's debut even if it was clear that the entire attack needed to be better in front of goal.
"Yeah, he was good. He worked hard for the team. He had a couple of chances he will be disappointed he didn't do better with and the overall performance of everyone was OK, but it doesn't mean anything if we don't turn that performance into outcomes," the Tottenham boss told football.london.
"We had similar issues last year and if we're going to get to the next level as a team and bridge the gap to the top sides, it is an area of the game we need to improve."
Solanke's captain Son Heung-min was also impressed by his new team-mate.
"I think Dom did a really good job, even in a striker job, not just with the ball but without the ball as well. He was pressing really well, making problems for the defenders," the experienced attacker told BeInSports.
On the team's performance, the skipper added: "We did [create a lot of chances] but creating chances is not enough. We are here playing football to score goals, and that's why we press high.
"That's why we play football, for we take so many risks to score goals. So, yeah, I mean, good part, but obviously you look always at the way you can improve, where your weakness was in the game.
"So I think today was a great example that we can improve in the final third, so it definitely has to be improved because we want to score goals. If you don't want to make mistakes like this then you have to improve.
"It is very, very frustrating, especially first half, and even before we conceded the goal, I think we dominated the game and we controlled the game really well. I think in the first half we could have made the game easier for us and made a final decision and found the right passes in the final third, but we didn't.
"So this is primarily when you're missing these clinical opportunities and I think against a team that always waits for their chances, and I think that's what Leicester did. It's very, very frustrating, but this is another lesson. As a team, you want to be top and you have to be clinical, when you are especially winning so I think it was very, very frustrating."
This front line had never played a match together so it's understandable that it would be a little disjointed but that does not excuse some of the wasteful play when the ball reached the final third.
Service not included
Solanke needed better service from his fellow attackers. The midfield did their part with James Maddison sharp in the first half in particular against his old team, making three key passes including the assist for Porro's goal.
However, it was another disappointing evening for Brennan Johnson, who carried his inconsistent pre-season into the Premier League campaign.
Dejan Kulusevski, who has been Spurs' best player this summer by a distance, would have had every right to be disappointed about being left out of the starting line-up.
Postecoglou appeared to be going for pace on either side of Solanke in Johnson and Son but the set-up didn't create enough clear-cut opportunities for him. Both played one key pass and Son made four dribbles but it was not enough for players of their quality.
Johnson in particular did not make a single dribble. For an attacker with his pace and technique, the 23-year-old should be flying past defenders over and over again.
One strange moment in the first half summed up his display. Johnson did far more defensive work on the day than he will get credit for. He made six tackles, the joint-most on the pitch with Fatawu, but after making one great sliding challenge after chasing back he had opened the entire right flank for him to race into in the other direction.
Johnson didn't take it. He took a couple of touches forward and then just loitered in the first few yards of the Leicester half waiting for someone to join him. It was Leicester players who did.
It's that confidence in himself that isn't always there. Postecoglou loves Johnson and he believes he's got a high ceiling but the young Wales international appears to need to believe that himself sometimes.
In one moment he can show superb technique, like the first half chest down, turn and volley that Hermansen saved, and then in the next moment he can take a heavy touch when trying to control the ball in a good position and lose possession or momentum.
Kulusevski will feel aggrieved at his absence from the starting line-up and with so many wingers now at the club, with Wilson Odobert set to be a potent addition once his work permit comes through, it seems like the Swede could end up being used more centrally.
Kulusevski told football.london out in Japan last month that he will have to adapt his game if he is to be a Postecoglou winger, with the Australian preferring such players to remain out wide rather than cutting inside.
Kulusevski's performances as a false nine or number 10 in pre-season appear to have solidified Postecoglou's view that he's better through the centre than on the wing. The number 10 role is after all the player's favourite position.
However, you can't help but imagine what his left-footed crosses from the right, cutting inside to curl them into the box, would have been like for Solanke to feast upon had the Sweden international started the game.
It was left to Porro mostly to put in such balls and when the changes happened late in the game so Timo Werner came on down the right, in a position we've not seen the German in for Spurs, and he struggled to create openings as he does on the other flank.
Odobert, with his dribbling and pace, is going to cause problems on both flanks and Werner is going to find himself among those fighting for simply a spot on the bench, which is the point of competition.
Mikey Moore was a casualty of the sheer size of the current squad. The 17-year-old will get minutes as the matches pile-up next month but after his impressive summer you wouldn't have bet against him making an impact late on at the King Power Stadium had he been available.
Postecoglou will have to wrangle his large squad into the required 20 each week but that's how big clubs are meant to operate. It increases the quality of those named as they fight it out for places.
Key moment for the defence
One mistake was all it took to change Monday night for the Tottenham Hotspur defence.
It was Postecoglou's first choice back line, although three of them had only played 45 minutes of football in the past six weeks or so. That half of football had been all Destiny Udogie had played since April.
Yet they looked in control for much of the game until Cristian Romero went wandering in the 57th minute to leave Jamie Vardy in acres of space behind him, while Pedro Porro did not realise the danger his team-mate had left in his wake.
As Vardy went off later in the game he motioned towards the Tottenham fans and pointed to the Premier League badge on his arm, indicating he had won a title and they hadn't. Of course it's ignoring the fact that Spurs have won the English top flight twice, albeit long, long before most of us were born.
Vardy had an exchange with Romero as he went off, the World Cup and two-time Copa America winner no doubt less than impressed by the striker's gestures.
However, for Romero, who is considered one of the world's best back home in Argentina, he needs to show that consistently in the Premier League to convince those in Europe that he's as good as Messi believes he is.
He sent an early header wide for Spurs on Monday, and had good moments at the back. There's little doubting Romero's quality but he needs to have a big season for Tottenham this time around as a leader and as a defender. He has the ability to help his club football move towards the achievements of his international game.
That will require constant concentration, especially within a system that puts a lot of pressure on the centre-backs to cover quickly for the wandering full-backs. You need only look at Tottenham's goal to see that Porro was running into the position a centre-forward would take up. Postecoglou full-backs are the wild cards and the rest of the team must adjust accordingly.
The Romero lapse, assuming Porro was right behind him, was such a small moment and he made a big interception to stop Vardy moments later, but Premier League defending is about the smallest of moments and their consequences. The mistakes are often all that people will remember.
Plenty of talk pre-game was about Tottenham's set piece defending. On the night they handled that well, aided by having another big presence in Solanke coming back to help out, but again a single lapse changed the course of a game they had been dominating.
The defence will point to the forwards not taking their chances but the back line also needs to get sharper because far tougher tests lie ahead. All four of them getting 90 minutes into their legs will at least help in that regard.
Porro went off in added time with a knock, which gave Djed Spence a late positive cameo down the right and Radu Dragusin will be patiently waiting for his chance as the games come thick and fast next month following his starring performances at the Euros.
Postecoglou could still do with another centre-back who could also cover left-back to provide another option alongside the experienced Ben Davies and the final weeks of the transfer window are still likely to see movement in both directions.
Final squad decisions
The sight of Ange Postecoglou bringing on a flood of new players in the second half is a sight Celtic fans became used to seeing.
It's a sign that the Spurs boss is getting his squad closer to where he wants it to be. For the Postecoglou theory is that his system will constantly create chances to win games but it requires replenishing fresh legs to continue the relentlessness.
He wants his squads at a level where he can make three or four changes in one go without lowering the quality of his assembled XI or its rhythm. In this case he eventually brought on six players due to having one extra concussion substitution to make.
In one fell swoop, Postecoglou brought on Kulusevski and three new signings in Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Timo Werner. He had wanted to do so earlier but a long period without the ball going out of play and then the Bentancur treatment meant the quartet emerged far later than planned.
While Werner struggled, the other three had positive impacts. Gray looked composed and strong in the tackle on his Premier League debut, making his case for starting in the number six role on Saturday against Everton if Bentancur misses out through the concussion protocol.
Yves Bissouma's one-game club suspension will have ended but it would be a big call for Postecoglou to put the midfielder straight into the line-up after making it clear that he needed to rebuild his trust and the team's.
Kulusevski brought his trademark energy as an agent of chaos between the opposition lines. He also made one vital sprint back to execute a perfect sliding tackle in his own box in the final stages and his place in the team to face the Toffees must surely be a given.
Bergvall's Premier League debut was the most exciting of the bunch. The 18-year-old showed no fear, demanded the ball constantly and got it those 39 times and used it well, with a 96.2% success rate.
However, the one time the teenager did lose the ball deep in his own half with two home players closing him down early in added time, it led to Vicario having to make a diving save to prevent a Leicester winner. The furious Italian raced out and screamed and gestured at Bergvall, who had a flushed face like a chastised schoolboy.
It's a lesson that the young Swede will learn but it did impact him for the next few minutes as his passes became safer and he did not carry the ball as much. He grew in confidence though as the time ticked by and he should have had a last-gasp assist if Richarlison had headed his curling free-kick on target.
There is still plenty of work for Postecoglou to do on this squad. Oliver Skipp has now departed to Leicester after 18 years at Tottenham and was in the crowd at the King Power Stadium following a move that is worth more than £20million to Spurs. football.london also understand the north London club also holds a sell-on clause as part of the deal.
For the 23-year-old, to make more than 100 appearances for your boyhood club is something special and it's a great credit to Skipp and the Spurs academy. He'll be perfect for Leicester and able to prove his worth alongside another Spurs academy product in Harry Winks.
It does mean Postecoglou no longer has any outfield senior first team club-trained players for his Europa League squad but that is a bridge he will have to cross in a couple of week's time when it must be registered. There's no doubting Skipp needed the move as he was never going to get the chance in his favoured number six role in the Postecoglou system.
It is another change to a squad that barely resembles the one that two years ago started the season before Postecoglou's arrival.
Only six of the 20-man squad that beat Southampton 4-1 that day in August 2022 were in Monday night's squad. Only three of the starters that day were in the team this time - Romero, Bentancur and Son.
It must be the biggest overhaul of a Tottenham squad in decades. All of the experienced leaders have gone in Lloris, Kane, Dier and Hojbjerg and so many more have followed them through the exit door.
It's a near unrecognisable squad to the one that Conte and Mourinho had with so many of the long-serving players having departed. It's a squad built for the Postecoglou way but also with one eye on the long-term and talented players who will fit any style.
"They're top players," Solanke said of Gray and Bergvall after Monday's game. "I think they had a great preseason from what I saw and I have been with them for a week now and they're great talents. There's great talent throughout the whole team. I'm looking forward to playing with all of them for the rest of the season."
Postecoglou will want further tweaks before the window closes in a couple of weeks' time and he still has plenty of decisions to make on those left within the building.
This first Premier League game showed that some of the previous problems remain and the players need to get far sharper for the tougher tests that await. Postecoglou wants much more and his disappointment after the game was clear in a quietly-spoken press conference that was over within just over two-and-a-half minutes.
Sometimes a muted opening day isn't the worst thing in convincing the powers-that-be that further changes are required. The coming weeks will showcase exactly what Tottenham squad Postecoglou ends up with and what is achievable in the busy campaign to come.
