Tottenham 1 Eintracht Frankfurt 1 – Was this a good result for Postecoglou?

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This night was billed as perhaps the biggest in Tottenham’s season — and it proved fittingly tense.

After seeing their ambitions thwarted on every other front in an underwhelming campaign, Spurs were under serious pressure ahead quarter-final first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League, their last chance of silverware.

The evening started catastrophically for manager Ange Postecoglou, with Hugo Ekitike firing in a fine opener for the visitors, but Pedro Porro’s backheeled goal drew them level before the interval.

Spurs worked feverishly in the second period in search of a winner but despite creating some fine chances, they could not find another breakthrough.

Here, we dissect the main talking points.

Where does this leave Postecoglou?

Next Thursday’s trip to Frankfurt will now become the decisive game for the Ange Postecoglou era.

This 1-1 first-leg draw leaves this tie in the balance. If Spurs hoped that they would rack up the goals in the first leg to give themselves a cushion, then they will have gone home frustrated. Indeed, most people would conclude that this first leg draw hands a narrow advantage to Frankfurt. Even in this post-away goals era.

But this performance, especially in the second half, was far better than many would have expected. Spurs went through the gears in the second half, creating chance after chance. They should have won this game by a few goals and were denied a dramatic winner in the last minute of stoppage time when Micky van de Ven’s header was superbly saved by Kaua Santos. And if they had done, they would be flying to Germany next week with the cushion they deserved.

Ange Postecoglou is a manager under pressure (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

So even if Postecoglou’s chances of reaching the Bilbao final probably slightly receded today, you could argue that this game showed that his tenure has not completely run of road yet.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

The good and bad of Porro

At his best, Porro offers an elite attacking threat rarely matched by anyone in his position across Europe. At his worst, his defending is erratic, which can expose Spurs.

In the first half, the whole Porro experience was on display. It was the worst possible start for Spurs, conceding inside six minutes — and Porro’s defending was at least partly to blame.

After Maddison was tackled in the Frankfurt half and the German side rushed the ball forward, Porro was left on an island to defend Ekitike.

Facing up the French forward, linked with a big-money move away from the Bundesliga in the summer, is a daunting task for anyone, but Porro (circled below) backed away and invited his run.

Ekitike drove into the space and cut inside…

… before, under little pressure from Porro and the covering Lucas Bergvall, firing into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

Still, for what Porro may lack in defensive discipline, he can make up for in final-third quality. With a license to vacate his right-back spot and essentially occupy a striker’s role when Spurs were in Frankfurt’s half, the defender can ghost into the box undetected.

It’s what happened for his goal, with Maddison finding Porro near the six-yard box to backheel into the bottom corner — a moment of redemption for both players to get Spurs back on level terms.

Elias Burke

Porro backheels Tottenham’s equaliser (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Three minutes and four chances that Spurs could rue

After going down early, Tottenham were the better side for the majority of the match, their dominance encapsulated in a mad three-minute period in the second half.

It started with a thunderous shot from Lucas Bergvall, which cannoned off the bar and energised a previously muted crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Backed by a chorus of “Come on you Spurs”, the Tottenham players rushed forward, and Heung-min Son was next to go close, cutting inside from the right only for his effort to be saved by the impressive Santos.

From the resulting corner, taken by Porro, Rodrigo Bentancur powered a header towards goal that struck the crossbar.

Rodrigo Bentancur hits the bar (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

A minute later, Maddison had possibly the best opportunity of the lot, chopping back onto his weaker left foot inside the box and firing a curled shot on target, only for Santos to push it away on the dive.

With the tie in the balance heading into the Deutsche Bank Park, known for its intimidating atmosphere, Spurs may end up ruing the three-minute spell that would have put them in the driving seat.

Elias Burke

Ekitike shows why he’s a wanted man

Was this the night that Hugo Ekitike announced himself to the world?

The French striker opened the scoring after just five minutes, scoring a goal that was somehow both technically brilliant but also embarrassingly soft from a Spurs perspective.

But while Ekitike benefited first from James Maddison losing possession in a good position, allowing Frankfurt to break into the huge space behind him, and then Porro being happy to keep back-pedalling rather than intervening, he still had much to do.

The 22-year-old cut inside onto his right foot, finding space on the edge on the box before Lucas Bergvall could stop him. Eventually Ekitike shot, and he struck the ball hard, flat and low arrowing into the far bottom corner of the goal, beyond Guglielmo Vicario’s dive to his left.

Hugo Ekitike scores Eintracht Frankfurt’s opener (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

It was a brilliant piece of technique, seemingly catching the whole Spurs team off guard. And it was a reminder of why Ekitike is so highly valued, having scored plenty of goals for Frankfurt since he arrived from PSG two years ago.

It would not be a surprise to see him on an even bigger stage than this one soon enough.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

What next for Spurs?

Sunday, April 13: Wolves (Away), Premier League, 2pm UK, 9am ET

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(Top photo: Pedro Porro; Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

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