Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has opened up about his celebration for their disallowed goal against Chelsea. He said that he cupped his ears to the Spurs supporters to push them to cheer louder.
The north London side visited Stamford Bridge on Thursday in the Premier League. After a goalless first half, Enzo Fernandez gave Chelsea the lead in the 50th minute via an excellent cross from Cole Palmer. Moises Caicedo thought he had made it 2-0 six minutes later, but it was chalked off for offside.
Ange, meanwhile, subbed off Lucas Bergvall and Wilson Odobert for Pape Matar Sarr and Brennan Johnson in the 64th minute. This frustrated Tottenham fans in the away end, who chanted:
“You don’t know what you’re doing”
Sarr, however, found the back of the net in the 69th minute with a long-range shot. Just then, Ange was seen cupping his ears towards the Spurs fans in the away end. After the game, he was asked about it and he answered (via Metro):
“It’s amazing how things get misinterpreted. I don’t care what people… it’s not the first time my substitutions got booed. We scored a cracking goal, I wanted them to get excited, and that’s what I was listening for. So if people want to read anything else into it.”
The goal, however, was disallowed as Sarr was deemed to have fouled Caicedo in the build-up. It eventually ended in a 1-0 win for Chelsea.
Ange further explains his gesture towards Tottenham fans in Chelsea defeat
Explaining his gesture further, Ange asserted that he felt Sarr’s disallowed goal could have been the momentum shift Tottenham needed. He said that if the goal had stood, they could have beaten Chelsea, and that’s why he urged the supporters to cheer louder.
Ange said in his post-match press conference (via Metro):
“It doesn’t bother me, it’s not the first time they’ve booed my substitutions or my decisions, that’s fine, they’re allowed to do that. But we’d just scored a goal, just scored an equaliser, I was just hoping we could get some excitement.
“If people want to read into that that somehow I’m trying to make a point about something, like I said, we’d been through a tough time, but I just felt there was a bit of a momentum shift there. If they get really behind the lads, I thought we had the momentum to finish on top of them.”
With the win, Chelsea moved back into the top four in the Premier League while Tottenham remained 14th.
Edited by Aditya Singh
