Ange Postecocoglou said it was ‘hugely frustrating not to see the game out’ after AS Roma grabbed a late equaliser as it finished 2-2 in our UEFA Europa League MD5 clash at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday evening.
Heung-Min Son gave us an early lead from the penalty spot after Mats Hummels brought down Pape Matar Sarr but the Italians recovered to hit back through Evan N’Dika on 20 minutes.
Brennan Johnson struck again to restore our lead at 2-1 on 33 minutes, sparking our best spell of the game where Dejan Kulusevski struck the post and Sonny and Dominic Solanke were both denied by Mile Svilar in the Roma goal.
Seemingly sparked by the arrival of Claudio Ranieri last week, Roma responded in the second half, had two goals disallowed (taking it to three disallowed on the night, all for offside) and forced one of the saves of the season from Fraser Forster - **[in for injured Guglielmo Vicario](https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2024/november/anges-update-on-vicario-recovery-time-frame/)** - late on, when he tipped over from point-blank range from Gianluca Mancini. However, moments later, Mats Hummels pounced from close range for the equaliser.
The result leaves us ninth in the league phase of the competition after five of our eight games, with the top eight teams progressing straight through to the knockout stage - however, only three points separate the top 10.
Next up - Rangers, currently level on points but a place above us in eighth, in MD6 at Ibrox on 12 December.
Ange spoke to our Review Show immediately after the final whistle - here’s what he had to say...
_What were your overall thoughts on the game?_
Ange: “Look, hugely frustrating not to see the game out. It was an entertaining game, exciting, but we really should have put it to bed a lot earlier and we had the chances to do that. At 2-1, you are always keeping the opposition in the game and, unfortunately, we paid the price.”
_The game ebbed and flowed, did you feel we lost a little control in the second half?_
Ange: “Yes, a little, but like I said, we had some unbelievable opportunities, and you need to capitalise on those chances. They were throwing men forward and we had great opportunities on transition, and it was up to us to kill the game off - we didn’t take that chance.”
_How did you feel Fraser got on?_
Ange: “Yes, Fraser did well. We know with Fraser that he’s a big presence in the goal and he played his part tonight. As I said, we kind of shot ourselves in the foot by not being more clinical in the front third.”
_What are your thoughts on how the league phase is shaping up after five of our eight games?_
Ange: “We’re in a good position still, that’s the main thing. For us, through this qualification phase, we’ve had to deal with a fair bit throughout, squad rotation, injuries, and the fact that we’re still in a strong position sets us up well.”
_We’ve spoken a lot about consistency - how much is that down to the players' motivation, how much down to you and the coaching staff?_
Ange: “It’s just about continuing to execute. I thought we played well tonight. It wasn’t like we didn’t play well. We have to maintain those levels, and if we play like that, create those number of opportunities, we’ll win most games.”