. The Spurs manager had been hoping that someone would step up to save their season and his salvation arrived in the shape of Wilson Odobert, with a little bit of help from James Maddison.
When the England midfielder made it 2-0 early in the second half to add to Odobert’s well-taken first goal for the club, it looked like Postecoglou’s side were well on their way to a last eight showdown with Eintracht Frankfurt. This being Tottenham, however, things are never that simple and a mistake from Odobert allowed Peer Koopmeiners to level on aggregate with 20 minute to play. But Odobert kept Postecoglou’s hopes of ending the season with some silverware alive when he swept home at the end of a flowing move instigated by Maddison to send Spurs into the quarter-finals of the Europa League for the first time since 2013.
Postecoglou promised to provide the home supporters with “something to get behind” in his programme notes after his side’s disappointing display in last week’s first leg. They duly responded by creating a cauldron of noise inside the cavernous arena before kick-off, with Spurs immediately showing their intentions as Lucas Bergvall – tasked with playing the holding role in midfield ahead of Yves Bissouma after Rodrigo Bentancur’s suspension – thundered into an early tackle.
Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven had not started a game together since 8 December against Chelsea when both picked up injuries that have severely disrupted Tottenham’s season. So it must have been a reassuring sight for Postecoglou when the latter coolly dispossessed the former Spurs striker Troy Parrott and strode out of defence with the ball . But it has been in attack that Tottenham have looked laboured in recent weeks and a misplaced pass from James Maddison that was intended for Son Heung-min was greeted with the first round of groans.
Ajax’s elimination against Eintracht Frankfurt earlier in the evening meant that AZ were the …
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