Ange Postecoglou on the brink after sarcastic reaction to angry Tottenham fans backfires

CHELSEA 1-0 TOTTENHAM: Ange Postecoglou is under increasing pressure after seeing his side lose to their fierce London rivals – and the manager was slammed by his own fans during the match

There can be no way back for Ange Postecoglou. It was not just another lame Tottenham surrender at Stamford Bridge. And there have been enough of those down the years.

But alienating the travelling Spurs fans was a step too far for a manager already under mounting pressure. After all, they are stuck in 14th place having lost 16 of their 30 games. This is Tottenham we are talking about. But they were an open invitation for Chelsea to get the win they needed to climb back into the top four.

But the real moment of the match came from the touchline when Postecoglou turned to the away end, mocked them all by cupping his ear – only for it to backfire horribly. The Tottenham fans had chanted “You don’t know what you’re doing” at Postecoglou after the Spurs boss substituted Lucas Bergvall for Pape Sarr in the 64th minute.

Sarr then thought he had equalised with a long range shot only for it to be disallowed after a VAR check for a foul on Moises Caicedo in the build-up. As much as Postecoglou wagged his finger in disgust at the decision, the damage had been done. Once you lose the fans there is no way back.

From here, it feels like Tottenham could win the Europa League – their last chance of salvaging a calamitous season – and still they will sack Postecoglou. Tottenham’s long-suffering fans have largely turned their anger on chairman Daniel Levy and sang a few choruses of “Levy Out” at Stamford Bridge.

But this felt like a turning point for Big Ange. The Aussie has been a breath of fresh air with his swashbuckling football and entertaining soundbites. But all of that means nothing when you turn up to one of your biggest rivals and barely put up a fight. It was far too easy for Chelsea.

Chelsea have stuttered badly in the second half of the season but this was a gift. Only their wayward finishing and lack of cutting edge meant they did not have more goals to show for their efforts than Enzo Fernandez’s winner.

You simply cannot be this meek and timid in a London derby – otherwise you do not stand a chance. And sure enough, Spurs can have no complaints. Caicedo dominated midfield, Cole Palmer provided his first Premier League assist since December and even Jadon Sancho got a shot on target after not managing one in his last 11 games.

Tottenham offered so little going forward and their captain Son Heung-min looks a pale shadow of his former self. His only effort came late in the 87th minute but Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez kept it out. At the back, Tottenham were weak with Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven bullied by Nicolas Jackson. Incredibly, Tottenham have only won once at Stamford Bridge since 1990 – and they never remotely looked like doing it this time either.

It started in bizarre fashion as Trevoh Chalobah hit a long ball for Jackson to chase. Van de Ven went to clear but only ended up hitting the ball against Jackson and the ball hit the post. Sancho saw a shot brilliantly saved by Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario and then a bust-up sparked by Romero pushing Levi Colwill provided another rare piece of entertainment.

Finally Chelsea got a breakthrough. Palmer’s deep cross found Fernandez unmarked and the Chelsea midfielder was left unmarked by van de Ven to head home. Caicedo had an effort ruled out after a mammoth VAR offside check. Then Postecoglou took off Bergvall – one of their few decent performers – and replace him with Sarr and the crowd turned. Sarr had the ball in the net but it was a clear foul.

In fairness to Postecoglou, Spurs did show more spirit and signs of life in the dying stages but by then it felt too little too late in every sense.

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