Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou is speaking to the media following the 3-2 loss against Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.
Spurs began a final run of six games trying to find a way past Aston Villa and climb into the top four before the end of the campaign. Before the derby Postecoglou’s side sat seven points behind Unai Emery’s team with three games in hand. Arsenal came into the game looking to remain on top in the title race ahead of Manchester City.
Postecoglou made three changes to his starting XI, having lost Destiny Udogie for the remainder of the season after a freak injury in training which required quadriceps surgery. Ben Davies came into the left-back slot with Dejan Kulusevski, who became a father for the first time this week, also coming back into the team on the right wing in place of Brennan Johnson.
In the midfield, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was handed only his seventh Premier League start of the season alongside Rodrigo Bentancur and James Maddison with Yves Bissouma benched.
Hojbjerg made an impact early on but not in the way the Dane intended as he headed an Arsenal corner into his own net 15 minutes in.
The hosts thought they had found a leveller seven minutes later when Micky van de Ven slammed home a shot after Pedro Porro’s shot deflected into his path. However, after a lengthy VAR check, the Dutchman was adjudged to have been marginally offside.
Arsenal then found a second goal after a chaotic spell of play. Dejan Kulusevski and then James Maddison went down in the visitors’ box before the Gunners swept up the pitch and Bukayo Saka cut inside and stroked the ball into the net.
Another goal arrived before the break with another Spurs set piece goal conceded. Kai Havertz leapt highest in plenty of room to head home from a corner to give the visitors a 3-0 scoreline that didn’t reflect the half that preceded it.
Spurs struck a goal back after the hour mark. Cristian Romero, who had headed against the woodwork in the first half, was pressing high up the pitch and David Raya hit a pass straight at the Argentine, who calmly took it down and slotted a strike inside the left-hand post.
The hosts got another goal when Declan Rice caught Ben Davies in the box and although the official missed it, VAR did not and told Michael Oliver to head over to his pitchside monitor. The penalty was given and Son Heung-min fired it home but they could not find another goal.
READ MORE: Postecoglou confirms Tottenham player will start against Arsenal and makes Harry Kane admission
READ MORE: Every word Postecoglou said on how Udogie got injured, Pedro Porro, Mikey Moore and Arsenal
Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold is among those putting the questions to Postecoglou after the match. Scroll down for his latest updates from the press conference at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
