Ange Postecoglou was facing yet another defeat but Tottenham stepped up to save his blushes

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou praised his team’s effort to secure a 2-2 draw against Bournemouth on Sunday. The Spurs boss was under a lot of pressure before kickoff with his side losing back-to-back games against Manchester City and AZ Alkmaar.

Spurs came up against the Cherries following an embarrassing 1-0 first leg defeat against Dutch team AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16. Ange’s men needed a response and the Australian manager named a strong lineup on Sunday to get his team back on track.

The 59-year-old made six changes to his lineup that suffered the 1-0 defeat on Thursday night. Cristian Romero was brought back into the starting 11 for the first time since December, and Dominic Solanke also came into the lineup for the first time since January. However, key players Heung-min Son and James Maddison were dropped to the bench after a poor run of form.

Tottenham Hotspur came back from the dead to level the game against the Cherries

Tottenham keeper Guglielmo Vicario made two vital saves in the first few minutes of the game. But that was an indication to the fans that the outfield players were not up for it against Andoni Iraola’s side. Bournemouth kept on attacking through their flanks and life was made difficult for Spurs’ full-backs.

Defender Pedro Porro made an error just before half-time and gave the ball away to Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez, who played in a sublime cross for James Tavernier to make it 0-1. After a sustained period of pressure by Ange’s men, the Cherries found themselves attacking and eventually scored to make it 0-2. Justin Kluivert played in Evanilson and the striker chipped it over Vicario for a simple finish.

Spurs then instantly responded with a cross-cum-shot from Pape Matar Sarr that beat Arrizabalaga to make it 1-2. After a period of sustained pressure, captain Son drew a penalty after getting tackled by the Cherries keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. The South Korea international took the penalty himself and scored to make it 2-2.

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou credits team for draw against the Cherries

Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou was quite impressed with the effort shown by his players against Bournemouth. The Lilywhites drew the game against the in-form Cherries after it seemed unlikely that a comeback was on the cards.

As per Football.london journalist Alasdair Gold’s press conference transcript, Spurs manager Ange said this,

“Yeah, chaotic game for sure. We added to the chaos and it was a little bit self-inflicted, especially in the first half, just with the ball we were really careless with our passing and that allowed the game to played on the terms Bournemouth would like with their transition football.”

The Australian manager also added,

“So yeah chaotic but at 2-0 down it would have been very easy, particularly with the atmosphere as it was, for the boys to just let the game get away from us, but credit to them, they found a way to get back into the game and we got something out of it.”

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Ange Postecoglou will be hoping his team can carry on with this momentum against AZ Alkmaar in the second leg of the Europa League last 16 tie. The 59-year-old is under pressure to save his job, and a win on Thursday will do him a world of good amidst calls of sacking.