“All other things being equal, we would have won”
Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham would have beaten Newcastle if the game had taken place on “a fair and level ground”.
The Spurs boss cut a defiant if somewhat agitated figure in normal time after the Magpies came from behind to beat Postecoglou’s side 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
Dominic Solanke gave the hosts the lead within four minutes, but Anthony Gordon equalized two minutes later.
The in-form Alexander Isak then grabbed the winner in the 37th minute as the Swede scored in his seventh consecutive Premier League game.
Tottenham have only won two of their last 🔟 Premier League games:
✅ 2 wins
🤝 2 draws
❌ 6 defeatsA bad record for Ange Postecoglou’s team 📉 pic.twitter.com/L52kOLuenT
– Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 4, 2025
After the break, Spurs increased the pressure and had numerous chances in the second half, but were unable to capitalize on any of them.
Postecoglou’s team have won just two of their last 10 Premier League games – a run that has seen them fall to the bottom half of the table.
Despite the result, Postecoglou insisted he was proud of his team but said under different circumstances the result would have been different.
“I’m hugely proud of the players. “Excellent given the situation we find ourselves in,” the Tottenham manager told TNT Sports.
“We deserved to win this game. All other things being equal, we would have done it.”
“If it had been a different day and the conditions had been balanced and fair, we would have won the game” 👀
Ange Postecoglou with a fiery reaction to Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat to Newcastle…
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/E8NncBW0OH
– Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 4, 2025
When Postecoglou was asked about a possible handball call in the lead-up to Gordon’s goal, he doubled down on his assessment that he was “balanced.”
“I don’t feel disadvantaged, I just think they (officials) want to do things that way. The last thing I want is an explanation.
“All I can say is that on any other day, on a fair and even playing field, we would have won the game. It’s that simple.
“Don’t keep asking me about the (referee’s) decision. I know what my opinion is and as I said, if it had been any other day and there had been equal and fair conditions, we would have won the game.
“It’s a game we should have won and deserved to win. Right now things are not the same. I couldn’t be more proud of the way they (the players) played. Their attitude, their ability to be resilient even in the most extreme circumstances.
“We are disappointed because it is a game that we would have won under the same conditions, so of course you are disappointed. You can only do what you can control and today there were things that were out of our control that took the game away from us.”
Spurs are next in action when they host Liverpool in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday evening.
