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Ange Postecoglou‘s first home Premier League game as Tottenham Hotspur manager has gone as well as it possibly could have.
Pape Matar Sarr scored early in the second half and Lisandro Martinez added an own goal to give the Spurs a 2-0 win over Manchester United.
It was just the kind of result Postecoglou needed in his first home game to build a sense of belief as the club — and the fan base — move on from the departure of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich.
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After a lively first half, Sarr put Spurs ahead in the 49th minute after Dejan Kulusevski made a good run down the right and broke into the area. The Swede’s low cross was deflected into the path of Sarr, who slotted it into the roof of the net from close range.
The game had been wide open in the first half and the goal turned up the tempo even more, with chances flowing at both ends.
United nearly responded immediately; Antony hit the post with a left-footed curler at the other end and Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario made a diving one-handed save to keep out a header from Casemiro after a free kick into the box in the 56th.
Vicario made another save to deny Bruno Fernandes, and Son Heung-min had a shot blocked at the other end after a well-worked passing move by Spurs.
After the tempo settled down a bit, Spurs doubled their lead with a bit of fortune.
Substitute Ivan Perisic sent a low cross into the area toward Ben Davies, who couldn’t make clean contact as he tried to send a shot on goal, but the ball instead deflected in off Martinez.
It secured a first win for Postecoglou, whose team was held to an entertaining 2-2 draw at Brentford last weekend.
“It was fair to say we looked a bit nervous at the start which wasn’t surprising,” Postecoglou said after the match.
“We gave the ball away a little bit too much and, to be fair, Man United probably had the better of the chances. … Second half, certainly in spells, it kind of showed the team we want to be.”
Postecoglou also praised the Spurs home crowd, and waved to them after the full-time whistle.
“The support was outstanding, right from the first whistle the crowd were outstanding,” he said.
“They carried us through the first half because we were nervy. We’re showing bits of our game today. I saw enough that encourages me.”
Coming off an unimpressive 1-0 win over Wolverhampton in the opening round, when Erik ten Hag’s team was largely outplayed at Old Trafford, this was a role reversal for United. The visitors were largely in control the first 30 minutes but struggled to properly test Vicario in the Tottenham goal, with Marcus Rashford drawing a good save and Fernandes missing a wide-open header in front of goal.
Unlike his predecessor Antonio Conte, Postecoglou wants his Tottenham side to play a possession-based attacking game based on playing it out from the back, but that’s clearly still a work in progress. Spurs struggled to beat United’s press in the first half, often turning the ball over to create dangerous counterattacking chances.
And when Tottenham did work its way up the field, Richarlison was largely anonymous up front. The Brazil striker hardly had a whiff of the ball before being taken off in the 70th, serving up a reminder that — regardless of the results — replacing Kane’s presence up front was still a work in progress as well.
Manly second-rower Dean Matterson has a nervous wait on his hands after clobbering Penrith back-rower Liam Martin with a high shot during the Sea Eagles’ loss to the Panthers on Thursday night.
Tensions boiled over early in the second half at Brookvale Oval when Matterson, the younger brother of Parramatta’s Ryan Matterson, collected Martin high with a swinging arm.
While Matterson was not sent to the sin bin, the 25-year-old was reported and is now waiting for a verdict from the match review committee.
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Andrew Johns pointed out that Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards, one of the most mellow characters in the NRL, fired up at Matterson when he hit Martin high.
“Dylan Edwards, he’s not a player to really react,” Johns said on the Nine broadcast.
A host of players from both sides rushed in for some and push shove but it quickly fizzled out.
In the same tackle, Manly’s Ben Trbojevic copped a knee to the head from teammate Aaron Woods.
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He left the field for a head injury assessment and didn’t return, before Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold revealed in his press conference that he would not face the Warriors next week.
Trbojevic was the victim of a high shot a week earlier when Roosters prop Nathan Brown caught him high, resulting in a send-off.
Saints defender Liam Stocker faces a nervous wait after he was reported for a dangerous tackle on Brisbane‘s Eric Hipwood.
The Lions cemented themselves inside the AFL‘s top-four with a convincing 12. 12. (84) to 8. 8. (56) win at Marvel Stadium.
With just seconds remaining before half-time, Stocker hurled Hipwood to the ground in what Melbourne champion Garry Lyon described as a “cut and dry” sling tackle.
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But in Stocker’s favour is the fact Hipwood’s head at no stage hit the Marvel Stadium turf, meaning he may still avoid suspension.
“It’s as cut and dry … as we’ve seen all year, there’s no question about it,” Lyon said on Fox Footy’s coverage.
“This is what we’re trying to stamp out of the game, regardless of whether or not he hits his head on the ground.”
Fellow AFL great Nathan Brown said regardless of whether or not Hipwood’s head hit the turf, Stocker deserved to be suspended.
“If you’re trying to penalise the action, he should get suspended, shouldn’t he?,” he said.
Max King on report for striking
Nathan Buckley agreed: “If Hipwood puts his head down (and made contact with the ground), then Liam Stoker gets suspended. Is that we want it to become?”
Hipwood would go on to lead the Lions in attack, finishing with his third four-goal haul of the season.
Stocker wasn’t the only Saint in hot water, with Max King also reported for striking Ryan Lester, although replays suggested King may not have even made contact with Lester.
The game started in emotional scenes when both sides joined together in the middle for a tribute to the late Danny Frawley.
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Parramatta’s epic round four victory over Penrith could come at a cost.
Eels co-captain Junior Paulo was sin-binned in the final minute of regular time at CommBank Stadium for a nasty shot on a Panthers debutant.
Paulo leapt off the ground and his arm wrapped around the head of Zac Hosking.
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“This might be more serious (than a penalty),” Billy Slater said on Nine as referee Ashley Klein called Paulo over, before binning him.
A grade one careless high tackle can carry a monetary fine, but a grade two or three comes with a suspension.
Any ban for Paulo would be a significant blow to the Eels, who lost their opening three games of the season before Thursday’s golden point victory.
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Penrith hooker Mitch Kenny was also sin-binned early in extra time, before Eels halfback Mitchell Moses knocked over the winning field goal.
The Panthers will be missing bench hooker Soni Luke next week after he suffered a category one concussion.
Luke was steamrolled by Parramatta backrower Bryce Cartwright and will miss at least 11 days, under the NRL’s new concussion protocols.
J’Maine Hopgood of the Eels also left the field for a head injury assessment, but passed.
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