Reuters

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou took responsibility for his side's inconsistency this season after they fell to a shock 2-1 home loss to promoted Ipswich Town in the Premier League on Sunday.

Having eliminated Manchester City in the League Cup before beating Aston Villa 4-1 in the Premier League last weekend, Spurs were stunned by Galatasaray 3-2 in the Europa League on Thursday.

On Sunday, boos rang out from Spurs fans at the final whistle as Ipswich claimed their first Premier League victory since April 2002.

The defeat left Spurs in 10th place with 16 points from 11 matches.

"The inconsistency we're having this year, ultimately it comes down to me and my approach and something I need to try and fix and see if I can help the players in that area," Postecoglou told reporters.

The Australian did not think Spurs' Thursday-Sunday run of fixtures was the reason for their struggles.

"If we were seeing that we'd probably feel it more at the end of games and we're not feeling it at the end of games," he added.

Midfielder Pape Matar Sarr and striker Dominic Solanke both left Sunday's game due to injury but Postecoglou thought both players had avoided serious problems.

"I think Pape is all right. He just got a bit of a knock," he added. "Dom jarred his knee, it was pretty sore but he wanted to continue. Hopefully it is nothing serious."

Sign up here.

Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford

Nov 8 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur are doing their best to carefully build up captain Son Heung-min's fitness by managing his minutes on the pitch, manager Ange Postecoglou said on Friday ahead of their Premier League clash against Ipswich Town.

Son missed games for Spurs and South Korea earlier in the season due to a hamstring injury, before playing in a 4-1 win over West Ham United last month, an appearance which exacerbated the winger's injury and kept him out of the next three matches.

"He had the injury, we brought him back and in the first game back he had a relapse," Postecoglou told reporters ahead of Sunday's home game against Ipswich.

"We don't want to put him into that cycle, it's very easy to fall into it by pushing players particularly when they're coming back from injury. We're managing his minutes and building him up.

"It's about making sure we get him back and keep him back. We can't afford more injuries in that position. We've already got Wilson (Odobert) with a long-term injury, (Richarlison) with a long-term injury, Mikey (Moore) out now."

Spurs, seventh in the league with 16 points from 10 matches, have struggled to put together a winning streak in the league, with two wins and two defeats in their last four matches.

The North London club trail league leaders Liverpool by nine points, but Postecoglou said it was futile to focus on the standings this early in the season.

"We still have a hell of a long way to go. What's important for us is to keep progressing in the way we have been. Our football for the large part has been pretty consistent, pretty good," the Australian added.

"We've had a couple of stumbles along the way but within that context, I still think we're making progress. There's no point looking at the table now because ultimately it's where you are at the end of the season that's going to count."

Spurs will fancy their chances against 18th-placed Ipswich who are yet to win a match, but Postecoglou urged caution, adding: "Every league game has the potential to hurt you if you're not at your best.

"Ipswich will be no different. They were close last week (to winning) and they've been close in a number of games. Kieran McKenna has done an unbelievable job since he's been there and they continue to grow."

Sign up here.

Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru Editing by Christian Radnedge

LONDON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Two second-half goals from Dominic Solanke and a sublime James Maddison free kick helped Tottenham Hotspur come from behind to overwhelm Aston Villa 4-1 on Sunday and end the visitors' seven-match unbeaten run in the Premier League.

Spurs climbed to seventh in the table on 16 points, two points behind Villa who stayed fifth.

Unai Emery's Villa led at halftime through Morgan Rogers, but Spurs were level soon after the break when Brennan Johnson tapped in at the far post.

Solanke's two goals in four minutes, including a flowing team move finished off with a delightful dink over Emiliano Martinez, secured the win, before Maddison curled in a free kick in stoppage time.

Villa’s goal punctuated a drab first half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Rogers poking home from a yard out after Lucas Digne’s corner was flicked on into the six-yard box.

Spurs skipper Son Heung-min provided an assist on his return from injury, whipping an excellent outswinging ball across the goal for Johnson to slot home at the back post shortly after halftime.

Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs had struggled to break Villa down in the first half, largely resorting to shots from distance, but they upped their intensity in the second period and two quick goals from Solanke sealed the win.

His first was a flowing one-touch team move, with Solanke latching onto Dejan Kulusevski’s cute pass and chipping the ball over the onrushing Martinez.

A mistake by Villa defender Pau Torres set Spurs charging forward again with second-half substitute Richarlison squaring for Solanke to grab his second.

Maddison put the gloss on a fine display late on, caressing the ball around the Villa wall from 20 yards out and into the top corner past a helpless Martinez.

Sign up here.

Reporting by Alexander Marrow, editing by Ed Osmond

LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou rued his side's lack of composure in a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on Sunday, saying the visitors conceded a poor goal after losing the ball near their own box.

"We could have dealt with those situations better but it was a poor goal and we should do better at that and not concede like that," Postecoglou told reporters.

"There were other solutions out there and again even in that moment we didn't have to lose our composure. It just seems we kind of wanted everything to run smoothly and we know it doesn't, especially in a game like today.

"There are still ways you can overcome that but it was a poor goal to concede because the game was always an arm-wrestle. It was never going to be one with bags of chances... so to concede like that was disappointing."

Postecoglou said he did not want Spurs to play Palace at their own game and said the stop-start nature of the match did not allow his players to settle down.

"What I want to try to do is get people to adjust to playing our game. Some of it is out of control because they're obviously going to be pretty aggressive in their approach," he added.

"How the referee deals with that, not so much in terms of the challenges but in terms of stoppages and taking their time, all of that is out of our control. But I just felt when we had control of things, we could have dealt with it better.

"We ended up doing silly things, giving away silly fouls and losing our composure, which just adds to that sort of game when you can't get any traction. We directed our frustration in the wrong way rather than dealing with it like we should have."

Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario kept Palace at bay with some crucial saves and the Italian said the home side showed more fight in the London derby.

"They fight and I think we lacked that today. We are disappointed because we have to fight. We play good football but maybe sometimes we lack the desire to fight. They show a real desire to fight for something," Vicario told Sky Sports.

"I think we lacked a bit of energy to be better than them. We have to take this personally and it has to hurt us a lot."

Sign up here.

LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Crystal Palace beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in the Premier League on Sunday thanks to a Jean-Philippe Mateta goal to finally claim their first win of the season and climb out of the relegation zone.

The victory eased the pressure on manager Oliver Glasner as Palace moved up to 17th with six points, two points clear of the drop zone, while Spurs remain in eighth spot with 13 points.

Palace started the game with much more intensity and their high press yielded the opening goal when Spurs shot themselves in the foot trying to pass the ball out from the back.

Daniel Munoz pinched the ball from Spurs centre back Micky van de Ven when the Dutch defender slipped and the wing back put a cross into the box which was expertly flicked by Eberechi Eze to an unmarked Mateta who fired home.

"Very important, first win this season and we worked hard to have another win. It was important to win against Tottenham. The first three points," Mateta told Sky Sports.

"Every day in training, I always want to show the manager that I'm fit and can score for the team... I say every time, if he (Eze) plays good then we would win. Today he gave me the pass."

Without injured skipper Son Heung-min, Spurs struggled to mount attacks while 17-year-old winger Mikey Moore - making his first Premier League start - could not replicate his dazzling performance in the Europa League three days ago.

HAPPY HOME FANS

Eze nearly made it 2-0 minutes into the second half but had his goal ruled out for a marginal offside when he tried to capitalise on Spurs' high line. Palace's appeal for a penalty when he went down in the box moments later was denied.

But Spurs were well and truly on the backfoot and had goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario to thank as he kept them in the game with some fine saves as Palace spurned opportunities to double their lead, with Munoz and Eze firing wide.

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou had seen enough and he made a triple substitution to introduce Richarlison, Pape Sarr and Timo Werner for the last half-hour, but they were unable to make any impact on the game as Palace's defence stood strong.

"It was one of those games with a lot of stoppages and battles and they ended up winning a lot of them and coming out on top," Postecoglou said.

"There was a lot of disruption and it was hard to get any fluency. They did better than us. It turned into a game they were thriving on and we should have dealt with it better. It was a poor goal to concede."

The Selhurst Park crowd groaned in unison when seven minutes were added on at the end of the second half but the home fans erupted when the referee blew the final whistle as Palace claimed their first league win since May.

Sign up here.

Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur have been fined 20,000 pounds ($25,934) for their players' conduct during Saturday's 4-1 Premier League win over West Ham United, the Football Association said on Wednesday.

Players from both sides were involved in a melee when West Ham scorer Mohammed Kudus lost his cool late in the match, with the winger first pushing defender Micky van de Ven in the face before he did the same to Pape Matar Sarr.

Following the incident, players from both sides gathered around Kudus and the 24-year-old was initially booked before VAR intervened and it was upgraded to a red card.

"It was alleged that the club (Spurs) failed to ensure their players didn't behave in an improper and/or provocative way around the 82nd minute," the FA said.

Spurs admitted to the charge and accepted the penalty, the FA added.

More punishments can be expected after West Ham and Kudus were also charged by the FA.

If found guilty, the Ghana international could serve an additional punishment on top of the three-game ban he will serve for violent conduct.

($1 = 0.7712 pounds)

Sign up here.

LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Chelsea's Johanna Rytting Kaneryd crowned an electric display with two goals, including a world-class effort, as they beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-2 to go second in the Women's Super League on Sunday, with a game in hand over leaders Manchester City.

City had to come from behind to beat Aston Villa earlier in the day to move to 13 points from their five games, but Rytting Kaneryd and Chelsea kept the pressure on with an emphatic victory to make it four wins out of four.

The Blues took the lead in the 10th minute with the simplest of goals as Rytting Kaneryd won the ball high up the field from fellow Swede Amanda Nilden and surged to the byline before cutting it back for Maika Hamano to score with ease.

Spurs grabbed a bizarre equaliser in the 21st minute as fullback Nilden launched a speculative effort into the box, and though Chelsea keeper Hannah Hampton didn't catch it cleanly, she appeared to have palmed the ball away, but the assistant referee flagged that it had crossed the line and a goal was awarded.

Nilden continued to be the centre of attention with an own goal just before the break, but a stunning volley from Rytting Kaneryd in the 70th minute ensured she would grab most of the headlines.

Irrepressible on the right wing, she won a penalty minutes later that fellow winger Guro Reiten thumped off the left-hand post, but fullback Sandy Baltimore followed up to add Chelsea's fourth.

Eveliina Summanen netted a late free kick for Spurs to make it 4-2, but Rytting Kaneryd had the last word with a brilliant solo raid that ended with a thunderous left-foot shot past Becky Spencer to make it 5-2 in second-half stoppage time.

Earlier on Sunday, interim Arsenal boss Renee Slegers steered her side to a 2-0 win over bottom team West Ham United, making the most of the 1-1 draw between Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester United on Saturday to keep in touch with the title-chasing group.

United and Brighton remain third and fourth respectively on 10 points, with the Gunners two points behind them in fifth.

An early goal for Leicester City gave them a 1-0 home win over second-from-bottom Everton, and Crystal Palace continued their good start to the season with a 1-1 draw away to Liverpool.

Sign up here.

BURTON UPON TRENT, England, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Dominic Solanke has the England shirt from his lone appearance for the national team framed on his wall, and while seven years have passed since he wore it, the Tottenham Hotspur striker said he never gave up hope of another call-up.

The 27-year-old earned his second one -- finally -- for England interim manager Lee Carsley's squad for Nations League games against Greece and Finland and hopes he can stick with the team for a while.

"I think over the years, when I do see it (the shirt), I've always thought 'When I get back there and win more caps for my country ...'" said Solanke, whose England debut in 2017 was a friendly against Brazil. "Having something like that on the wall is definitely extra motivation.

"I didn't think it wouldn't come around," he added after England's training session on Tuesday at St. George's Park. "(I had to) just keep playing well and scoring goals, and I always believed that I would get back here. That was my mindset. I'm thankful to be back here now, and hopefully I can stay here."

Solanke has scored three goals for Spurs in all competitions this season, having joined the London club from Bournemouth in a deal worth up to 65 million pounds ($85.25 million) in August.

After pouring in 21 goals for Bournemouth last season, Solanke was disappointed to have been left off former England manager Gareth Southgate's team that finished runners-up to Spain at Euro 2024. He used it as fuel.

"It was definitely something I was pushing for, but there's so many good players that could represent England, probably one of the strongest in the world, and I didn't quite manage to make the squad, which I was disappointed about. But that's football," he said.

"It's a dream to play for your country, so when you don't get selected, it definitely motivates you to work even harder to make the next one."

The long gap between senior team appearances is surprising considering Solanke was a mainstay with the national age group program, making his debut on the under-16 team in 2012. He helped England win the under-20 World Cup in 2017 and was presented with the Golden Ball as the player of the tournament.

Solanke said his mental strength has been the key to his longevity.

"The mental side of football is just as big these days, because there's so many ups and downs, a lot going on, on and off the pitch," he said.

"So it's important to stay focused and believe in yourself and keep working hard," he said. "And everyone's journey is different. Some people have a smooth-sailing career, and some not as smooth. So yes, it's just about sticking with

it."

England captain Harry Kane did not train with the team on Tuesday, doing an individualised training session indoors instead. The Bayern Munich striker injured his right leg during a 3-3 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt over the weekend, but the club said he does not have a structural injury.

England are second in Group B2 of the Nations League with six points from two games behind Greece on goal difference. Carsley's side host the Greeks at Wembley on Thursday before visiting Finland three days later.

Sign up here.

Reporting by Lori Ewing, editing by Pritha Sarkar

Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker

Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker