Tottenham coach Ange Postecoglou admitted that today's defeat against Chelsea, in which his team squandered a 2-0 lead to lose 4-3, was “painful.”
Zlatan from Mark Cucurella enabled the home team to take an early lead through goals from Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski but Spurs then collapsed.
Jadon Sancho pulled one back and Enzo Fernandes scored between two Cole Palmer penalties to put Chelsea in control.
“Personal coldness” 🥶
Cole Palmer converted a Panenka penalty to put the match beyond doubt! pic.twitter.com/JE96MpFUrr
– Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 8, 2024
Son Heung-min reduced the gap late, but that was not enough for the Tottenham team, which ranks 11th in the standings.
“It definitely hurts, it hurts,” Postecoglou told Match of the Day.
“We started the game really well but as our season progressed, we lost (Cristian) Romero after 20 minutes, and that held us back a bit and they scored straight after that.
“We had moments to get the third goal and in the first half we were in a good position. The second half was tense, especially at the beginning, they scored but we had a big chance with Son, we did not take advantage of it and then they went 3-2 ahead.
“I thought the two penalties were bad decisions on our part, and we have to show more discipline. In the end, the decisive moments came to us.
“I think there were good chances but I don't think there were an abundance of them. I can't remember the keepers making a lot of quality saves.
“We played a good team in this division, and when there is quality, you will have moments.
“There were things we could have done better for sure.”
We played well today – Postecoglou
Postecoglou was attacked by the visiting fans after the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth in midweek, and was booed again at the final whistle.
He added: “We did not play well in midweek but we performed well today. They are on the top side, and you have to give them credit. We were distracted in crucial moments. We have to realize that it is difficult to stop us when we are playing football. The two penalties were Two bad things when you play with these top teams, the momentum changes quickly.
To make matters worse for Spurs, centre-backs Romero and Micky van de Ven both failed to complete the 90 minutes.
“Obviously Romero was really disappointing. He felt something in his quad after 20 minutes and couldn't continue.
“Brennan (Johnson) wasn't feeling well and tried to compose himself at half-time but he wasn't ready to come off.
“Micky (Van de Ven) was feeling a little tired. The plan today was to try to give him 60 or 70 minutes.”
