Frankfurt 0 Tottenham 1 (1-2 agg): Postecoglou lives to fight another day as Solanke pen earns Spurs Europa semi spot
ANYONE who thinks Tottenham’s players have given up on Ange Postecoglou should take a look at James Maddison putting himself in the line of fire in Frankfurt.
The England man surely knew he was in for an almighty clattering by goalkeeper Kaua Santos when he rose to head a long ball midway late on in the first half.
But he put himself in harm’s way anyway - and won a vital penalty in the process, stuck away by Dominic Solanke.
Maddison’s act of bravery, which saw him subbed soon after because of the pain, paved the way to a massive win for Spurs last night (THU) that kept their Europa League dream alive - and, quite possibly, Postecoglou in a job.
There was a very real danger that had Spurs come unstuck in Germany, the Aussie would have received his P45 in the following days.
A Europa League exit would have capped a miserable campaign with no trophy and a dire Prem campaign where Spurs are languishing in 15th after 17 defeats.
It was a genuine case of win or bust - but thankfully, Postecoglou’s players came up trumps with a committed and mature performance just when he needed it most.
All the talk leading up to this game - aside from Postecoglou’s future - had been about how his side were going to handle the cauldron of the Deutsche Bank Park.
Eintracht’s hostile arena certainly lived up to its billing as their fans raucously cheered and bounced their way relentlessly throughout the game.
A banner was unfurled before kick-off with a message that translated to “the Eagles are on the hunt”.
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Eintracht’s most dangerous predator on the pitch, Arsenal target Hugo Ekitike, looked to pounce on his prey right from the off.
The in-form striker, who netted a stunner in the 1-1 draw in the first leg, raced onto an early long ball right down the middle.
But in Micky van de Ven, Spurs have the fastest man ever recorded in the Premier League, and he sprinted back to put in a brilliant, last-ditch tackle before crashing into his own goalie.
It was a let-off for Postecoglou’s side, who were then handed another boost when World Cup final-scoring Mario Gotze had to be subbed off on 17 minutes with a hamstring injury.
Though the deafening noise from the fans did not cease for a second in the driving Frankfurt rain, Spurs were weathering the storm on the pitch.
Uncharacteristically for this Postecoglou side, they were putting in a mature, controlled performance, slowing the game down when they could and taking few risks.
Mathys Tel then offered the visitors’ first flash of attacking threat with an excellent strike towards the far corner which Santos turned wide.
It was a fine save from the Brazilian, but what he did next seemed downright dangerous.
Maddison had flicked on Cristian Romero’s long ball but then was flattened by a towering Santos.
Amazingly, ref Davide Massa did not give the penalty straight away, leaving Spurs’ bench, including sub Richarlison, incensed.
But the Italian changed his mind on viewing the pitchside monitor and promptly booked Santos.
Tel picked up the ball having netted a spot-kick against Southampton earlier this month but eventually handed it to Solanke.
The England man had not netted for 11 games, so Spurs fans would have been understandably worried as he prepared his short run-up.
They needn’t have, though, as Solanke coolly sent Santos the wrong way to put Spurs one up.
Maddison was looking a little dazed from the collision and holding his hip.
He tried to carry on but minutes later had to give up the ghost, hugging Postecoglou as he came off, with Dejan Kulusevski sent on in his place.
Tempers were starting to flare both in the stands and on the pitch.
And when Brennan Johnson caught Nathaniel Brown with a naughty late foul, a shoving match ensued, with the Welshman being booked and Jan Fiesser, one of the assistants to Frankfurt boss Dino Toppmoller, being sent off.
Spurs had passed their first-half test with flying colours, but knew they were in for another difficult exam after the break.
One false move could undo all the hard work and they were left thanking their lucky stars when a super free-kick from Gotze’s replacement Fares Chaibi whistled narrowly wide.
It was not as near as Cristian Romero’s header from Pedro Porro’s corner on the hour, however, as the Argentine came agonisingly close to a crucial second.
Rodrigo Bentancur followed suit with a header over from another Porro corner to ratchet the tension up another notch.
The game was on a knife-edge and Spurs would have been sliced open were it not for a terrific Guglielmo Vicario save to deny Chaibi, before a Rasmus Kristensen header bounced the wrong side of the post.
Ex-Leeds man Kristensen had his head in his hands as he somehow drilled wide from close range.
It was a lucky escape but one that Postecoglou’s men deserved for their bodies-on-the-line performance that showed what they think of their under-fire manager.
