Under pressure Ange Postecoglou endured a torrid return to Scotland on Friday but watched his Tottenham team rescue a 1-1 draw with Rangers in the Europa League.
In front of a hostile Ibrox home crowd, Rangers took the lead early in the second half from Hamza Igamane and the hosts look likely to pile more misery on Postecoglou’s side – with just one win now in eight games.
The Aussie coach was furious at German international Timo Werner, hooking him at halftime and calling him out in the press conference post-match.
“He wasn’t playing anywhere near the level he should,” Postecoglou said, when asked why he had withdrawn Werner at the break.
“When you’ve got 18-year-olds, it’s not acceptable to me,” he said.
“I said that to Timo. He’s a senior international, he’s a Germany international. In the moment we’re in right now, it’s not like we’ve got many options. I need everyone to at least be going out there trying to give the best of themselves. His performance in the first half wasn’t acceptable.”
Dejan Kulusevski equalised on 75 minutes before Spurs were put under enormous pressure at the death, with Fraser Forster coming up with a huge save from Cyriel Dessers to preserve parity and Rangers having a goal chalked off for offside, also to Dessers.
The result left both teams where they started the night – Rangers in eighth and Spurs ninth on the same points, but was a thrill a minute.
“What a game. Two teams going at it, not caring too much about defending at times. A wonderful game,” said former Rangers and Scotland striker Ally McCoist on TNT Sport’s coverage.
Postecoglou, the former Celtic manager, has come under fire after a poor run of results has seen them fall to 11th in the Premier League table. Sections of the Tottenham fan base have voiced anger and levelled personal abuse at the Australian.
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“I think Rangers played very well, we struggled a bit,” said Kulusevski
“We didn’t play well enough to win the game.
“I think Rangers played a perfect game, it’s a beautiful stadium, the fans helped them a lot.
“I wanted to change something, to make something happen and I succeeded once but not enough today.
“It’s always important to score but we’ve got to start winning games now. It’s time to win on Sunday.
“Everybody needs to do a little more than we’re doing now.”
Former Scotland forward James McFadden told the BBC that Spurs came into the game with the wrong mindset.
“Tottenham were really poor in the first half. They did not have any energy. It looked like a lot of players thought they could turn up here and play however they wanted,” McFadden said.
“However, Rangers showed them they are no pushovers. They controlled the game in the first half and should have been ahead. But they came out in the second half and got the reward for their performance.
“There was a slight improvement from Spurs after the changes, but in the end they didn’t do enough.
“A draw is a brilliant result for Rangers.”
Tottenham travel to Premier League strugglers Southampton this weekend with all eyes on the embattled coach.
Meanwhile, super sub Rasmus Hojlund’s brace has secured Manchester United a much-needed 2-1 comeback victory in the Europa League at Viktoria Plzen as Ruben Amorim registered his first away win as head coach.
After making a promising start to life as Erik ten Hag’s successor, things were thrown off track by the shock exit of sporting director Dan Ashworth and back-to-back defeats to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
Amorim was staring down the barrel of a damaging third straight loss early in the second half when ex-Burnley striker Matej Vydra put Plzen ahead after boyhood United fan Pavel Sulc cut out Andre Onana’s poor pass.
But Hojlund’s introduction off the bench helped spark a turnaround in freezing conditions, with the substitute soon converting after Amad Diallo’s effort was blocked.
The visitors continued to knock on the door and two minutes from time the Denmark international met a smart Bruno Fernandes free-kick with strength, a decent touch and a thumping finish.
United’s first European victory on the road since March 2023 sees them take a giant step towards the knockout stages as attention turns to Sunday’s trip to stumbling Manchester City.
United captain Fernandes defended Onana after his intended pass to Matthijs de Ligt went astray.
“We want to play from the back,” said Fernandes on TNT Sports. “We have to make the decision that is the right one. Andre thought that Matty could get to the ball, he missed the pass, they scored a goal, but that’s nothing that we have to focus about.
“You have to focus on what’s the best solution that we can do it in the future, but it’s not about Andre making the mistake. We don’t look at individuals here when something happens in the wrong side or the good side.
“We have huge belief in Andre. He knows he made a mistake, we don’t need to tell him, and he’s going to help us many times coming out from the back. We trust his qualities on the ball.”
In other action on Thursday, Athletic beat Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce 2-0, Roma defeated Braga 3-0 while Union posted a 2-1 win over Nice.
There were 2-2 draws for Malmo and Galatasaray and Lugogrets and AZ Alkmaar, while Olympiacos and Twente both couldn’t get on the scoresheet in their clash.
PAOK thrashed Ferencvaros 5-0, where there were five different scorers, while Anderlecht beat Slavia Prague 2-1 away.
Ajax were beaten 3-1 at home by Lazio, Porto defeated Midtjylland 2-0 while Bodo Glimt beat Besiktas 2-1.
Lyon edged Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2, while Real Sociedad thumped Dynamo Kyiv 3-0.
In the Conference League, Enzo Maresca’s high-flying Chelsea qualified for the last 16 with a 3-1 win over Estana.
The head coach left at home all but one of the XI that started Sunday’s 4-3 win over Tottenham, but it did not stop an inexperienced second string easing to victory in temperatures of around minus 10.
The Roarhttps://www.theroar.com.au/2024/12/13/we-struggled-ange-escapes-with-a-point-on-return-to-hostile-ground-as-he-fights-for-his-job/‘His performance wasn’t acceptable’: Under-fire Ange slams Spurs star in wake of ‘really poor’ effort with his job on the line
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