‘If everything were equal, we would win’

Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham would have beaten Newcastle had the game been played “on a fair and level playing field”.

The Spurs boss was defiant, if a little flustered, after the Magpies cruised to a 2-1 win against Postecoglou’s side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

Dominic Solanke gave the home side the lead within four minutes, but two minutes later Anthony Gordon leveled the scores.

The in-form Alexander Isak then grabbed what proved to be the winner on 37 minutes as the Swede struck for his seventh successive Premier League game.

Tottenham have won just two of their last 🔟 Premier League games:

✅ 2 wins
🤝 2 draws
❌ 6 defeats

Bad spell for Ange Postecoglou’s team 📉 pic.twitter.com/L52kOLuenT

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 4, 2025

Spurs then increased the pressure after the break and had a number of chances in the second half, but failed to convert any of them.

Postecoglou’s side have won just two of their last ten Premier League games – a run that has seen them drop into the bottom half of the table.

Despite the result, Postecoglou insisted he was proud of his team but said the outcome would have been different in different circumstances.

“I am very proud of the players. Extraordinary considering the situation we are in,” the Tottenham manager told TNT Sports.

“We deserved to win that game. If everything were equal, we would have.”

“If it had been a different day and an equal and fair playing field, we would have won that match” 👀

Ange Postecoglou’s fiery response to Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat by Newcastle…

📺 @tntsports and @otkrićeplusUK pic.twitter.com/E8NncBW0OH

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 4, 2025

Asked about a possible handball call in the build-up to Gordon’s goal, Postecoglou doubled down on his “flat pitch” assessment.

“I don’t feel hard, I just think it’s the way they (officials) want to do things. 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 about the (judge’s) decision. I know what my opinion is and, as I said, if it had been a different day, if it had been equal and fair, we would have won that game.

“It’s a game we should have won and deserved. Things are not equal right now. I couldn’t be more proud of the way (the players) played. Their attitude, their ability to be resilient in the most extreme circumstances.

“We are disappointed because it is a match that we would have won under all equal conditions, so you are obviously disappointed. You can only do what you can control and there were things that were out of our control today that took the game away from us.”

Spurs are next in action when they host Liverpool in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday night.