In the biggest game of Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur career so far, his side came out on top to earn a UEFA Europa League semi-final. Questionable decision making from Eintracht Frankfurt goalkeeper Kauã Santos saw James Maddison brought down in the box, handing Dominic Solanke the opportunity to give his side the lead in the tie.
As the second-half progressed, the pressure from the home side ramped up and Guglielmo Vicario was forced to make several impressive saves to deny Hugo Ekitike and Rasmus Kristensen to ensure that Spurs’ clean sheet remained intact.
A big win for Ange Postecoglou and his Spurs side sees the Lilywhites progress to the UEFA Europa League final four, as they look to redeem themselves for a poor Premier League campaign.
As it happened
In the early stages of the match, Ange Postecoglou’s side looked vulnerable defending in transition. As Frankfurt looked to make home advantage count in Western Germany and flood men forward when offered the opportunity, the Spurs defence looked nervous. It appeared as if Eintracht had managed to cut through the away side when Kauã Santos opted to go direct and look for their key man Hugo Ekitike – the Frenchman had Guglielmo Vicario’s goal in his sights but the recovery speed of Micky Van de Ven meant that their blushes were spared.
Bayern Munich loanee Mathys Tel brought Santos into action for the first time when he tested the Brazilian from range. Tel’s effort looked like it was heading for the top corner but the young goalkeeper was equal to it.
There was a moment of chaos when Cristian Romero’s long pass led to a collision between Santos and James Maddison, with the Brazilian judged to have acted recklessly leading to a penalty kick being awarded to the away side. Dominic Solanke stepped up and converted his penalty sending it straight down the middle – his first goal since early January could not have come at a better time for Postecoglou.
It had been a tetchy first half with tempers flaring at various points throughout the first 45 and moments before the break the home side were furious with a challenge from Brennan Johnson when the ball was judged to have already gone out of play. A member of the Frankfurt coaching staff was sent off while the Welshman laughed as he watched on after being given a yellow card.
Defending set-pieces has been a cause for concern throughout the course of Postecoglou’s tenure but they almost reaped the rewards from a corner of their own. A brilliant delivery from Pedro Porro was met by Romero and Santos was in no man’s land as he watched the Argentine’s header go inches wide after looking like it was destined for the bottom corner.
Spurs were never going to sit on a one goal lead and when offered the opportunity were happy to risk players forward on the counter in hope of extending their advantage, with Tel and Kulusevski in particular looking dangerous.
It looked like Eintracht Frankfurt were about to level up the tie when Can Uzun’s cross was deflected into the path of the unmarked Kristensen. The right back was unmarked and had all the time in the world but shot with his weaker foot as he sent it wide. Unthinkably, the ball once again fell into the path of Kristensen inside the box – this time his effort was on target but it was tame and Vicario easily dealt with it.
With 85 minutes on the clock and pressure from the home side increasing, Postecoglou had no choice but to send Kevin Danso on for Brennan Johnson as they looked to see out what was left of this quarter-final. The momentum of the second-half can be best summmed up by how Frankfurt had 73% of the ball as they looked for an equaliser.
Eintracht Frankfurt became desperate and deep into added time Santos was granted permission to come up for an attacking free kick, but Spurs were able to deny the Bundesliga outfit and claim their first clean sheet since February. Much to the relief of the celebrating Spurs bench, Ange Postecoglou’s hopes of leading out Tottenham Hotspur in Bilbao in May were still alive – and no doubt all eyes will be firmly focused on preparations for their semi-final first leg in two weeks time.
The lineups
FRA: Kauã Santos; Kristensen, Tuta, Koch, Theate; Skhiri, Larsson; Brown, Götze, Bahoya; Ekitike
TOT: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bergvall, Bentancur, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Tel