Ange Postecoglou believes that Tottenham would have beaten Newcastle had the match taken place “on a fair and even playing ground.”
The Spurs boss cut a defiant, if somewhat agitated, figure at full time after the Magpies came from behind to win 2-1 against Postecoglou’s side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
Dominic Solanke gave the hosts the lead inside four minutes but Anthony Gordon levelled the score two minutes later.
In-form Alexander Isak then grabbed what proved to be winner on 37-minutes as the Swede found the net in his seventh successive Premier League game.
Tottenham have won just two of their last 🔟 Premier League games:
✅ 2 wins
🤝 2 draws
❌ 6 lossesA bad spell for Ange Postecoglou’s side 📉 pic.twitter.com/L52kOLuenT
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 4, 2025
Spurs then piled on the pressure after the break and had a flurry of chances in the second half but failed to convert any of them.
Postecoglou’s team have won just two of their last ten Premier League games – a run that has seen them drop into the bottom half of the table.
Despite the result, Postecoglou insisted he was proud of his team but said under different circumstances, the outcome would have been different.
“I’m hugely proud of the players. Outstanding considering the situation we’re in,” the Tottenham manager told TNT Sports.
“We deserved to win that game. All things being equal we would have.”
“If that was a different day and an even and fair playing ground, we would’ve won that game” 👀
Ange Postecoglou with a fiery response to Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat to Newcastle…
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/E8NncBW0OH
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 4, 2025
When asked about a possible handball shout in the build up to Gordon’s goal, Postecoglou doubled down on his “even playing ground” assessment.
“I don’t feel hard done by, I just think that’s the way they [the officials] want to do things. The last thing I want is an explanation.
“All I’ll say is that on any other day, on a fair and even playing ground, we would have won that game. Simple as that.
“Don’t keep asking me about the [referee] decision. I know what my opinion is and, as I said, if that was a different day, and if it was an even and fair playing ground, we would have won that game.
“It’s a game we should have won and deserved to win. Things aren’t equal at the moment. I couldn’t be prouder of the way they [the players] played. Their attitude, their ability to be resilient in the most extreme circumstances.
“We’re disappointed because it’s a game that all things being equal we would have won, so you’re obviously disappointed. You can only do what you can control and there were things out of our control today 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.
