Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham would have beaten Newcastle if the match had been played “on a fair and equal pitch”.
The Tottenham manager cut a defiant, if somewhat agitated, figure throughout as the Magpies came from behind to beat Postecoglou's side 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
Dominic Solanke put the hosts ahead within four minutes but Anthony Gordon equalized two minutes later.
The in-form Alexander Isak then scored the winner in the 37th minute, as the Swede found the back of the net in his seventh successive Premier League match.
Tottenham have won only two of their last 🔟 matches in the English Premier League:
✅ 2 wins
🤝 2 draws
❌ 6 lossesBad spell for Ange Postecoglou's team 📉 pic.twitter.com/L52kOLuenT
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 4, 2025
Tottenham continued to press after the break and had a number of opportunities in the second half, but failed to exploit any of them.
Postecoglou's side have won just two of their last ten Premier League matches, a run that has seen them drop to the bottom half of the table.
Despite the result, Postecoglou insisted that he was proud of his team, but he said that if the circumstances had been different, the result would have been different.
“I'm very proud of the players. Great 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 it had been a different day and a fair and level playing field, we would have won that match.” 👀
Ange Postecoglou with a fiery response to Tottenham's 2-1 defeat by Newcastle…
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/E8NncBW0OH
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 4, 2025
When asked about the possibility of a handball trend in the lead-up to Gordon's goal, Postecoglou reiterated his “level playing field” assessment.
“I don't feel like I've been overworked, I just think that's the way they (the officials) want to do it. The last thing I want is an explanation.
“All I will say is that on any other day, on a fair and level playing field, we would have won that game. Simple as that.
“Don't keep asking me what (the referee's) decision is. I know what I think, and like I said, if it had been a different day, if it had been a fair and level playing field, we would have won that game.
“It's a game we should have won and we deserved to win. Things are not equal at the moment. I couldn't be prouder of the way they (the players) played. Their attitude, their ability to persevere in the most difficult circumstances.
“We're disappointed because it's a game we could have won if all things were equal, so obviously you're disappointed. You can only do what you can control and there were things outside of our control today that took us out of the game.”
Tottenham will next play when they host Liverpool in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday evening.
