This was a classic game of two halves as Tottenham were fortunate to get to half-time with a single-goal deficit but then Manchester City were lucky to get to the final whistle with their lead intact.
When the referee signalled the end of the game, and Pep Guardiola came together to speak good-naturedly for a while on the pitch and after that the City boss sought out and had one of his famed animated, opposition player chats.
When asked what he had said to the 24-year-old full-back, explained with a dead pan delivery: "Why you run too much? Should be more calm so the impact… Udogie is quite similar. The pace of this team? Pfft, it is difficult.
"Maybe Liverpool [are better], but , every time he has the ball and run, unstoppable, Spence and Pedro Porro, Udogie, Kulusevski, Son, an incredible physical team with a clear idea to play.
"They play really good and they play without and Van de Ven, two of maybe the best central defenders in the league. The game, it was open second half because we didn’t close the first.
"In this stadium always they have 20 to 25 minutes and second half we suffered, but should be closed in the first one. That was the problem. It happened many times this season that we give away unbelievable amount of goals and up front there are many games, like Champions League at Sporting we should be 1-3 or 1-4 in the first half and we lost 4-1. Many times happen and today fortunately it finished good."
While the result was disappointing in coming after three straight wins in the Premier League and the first half was poor, the second half display, first without the benched , Dejan Kulusevski and Djed Spence and then with them, was more like the aggressive, forward-thinking Tottenham Hotspur that Postecoglou is trying to build.
It was managed with the youngest Tottenham starting line-up in a Premier League match for 33 years, with an average age on Wednesday night of just 23 years and 243 days. The only time Spurs have named a younger team was for a game against Sheffield Wednesday in 1992, when they had an average age of 23 years and 97 days.
"It’s disappointing to lose again and that's the main feeling. It did look more like us today. At least from my perspective. We were really relentless," said Postecoglou.
"We played aggressive football. We took it to a very good opponent. We never tapered off at all. If anything, bringing the guys on made us stronger towards the end of the game. Disappointing to lose but I think you see the benefit of us being refreshed and going into a game well prepared. That level of performance in the second half, if we can begin to get consistent with that then we will be able to push on."
Guardiola in his interview with TNT Sports was full of praise for a Tottenham squad that is finally being replenished in stages.
"This is one of the best depth of squads I've ever seen. The manager is exceptional," he said. "Kulusevski, Son, Spence on the bench and when they come with their impact, and the players in the first part were brilliant too. They're a fantastic team."
With a front three aged 19, 20 and 23, Postecoglou had handed three big names a rest and City would have been delighted to see two players who have hurt them so much over the years in Son and out of the starting line-up, while Spence has been devastating for Spurs.
It did feel like something of a missed opportunity with City low on confidence right now.
He would never publicly admit it, but this felt like the Australian was prioritising the Europa League match in Alkmaar next Thursday even though that was eight days away. It was also him building up the minutes and sharpness of players who he feels will be needed to start in March as four matches come in quick succession on Thursday and Sunday again for a spell with those European ties against AZ and the Premier League games are tricky ones against Bournemouth and Fulham.
Postecoglou believed that , Brennan Johnson and Destiny Udogie could all do the job asked of them and while they looked rusty in the first half, they all played their part in the second half revival.
Some questioned why the three big players were not rested against Ipswich instead, but at that point Odobert was not ready to play an hour of football and Udogie and Johnson did both start. Pedro Porro, with the most minutes played in the team, was given his turn out of the team on that day.
When football.london asked whether it was simply the benched trio's turn for a rest, Postecoglou did not like that way of putting it.
"No, it wasn't their turn, but like I said, it's just there's no point having a squad and I can't be sitting here bemoaning not having a squad and then not using it [when I do]. I think that'd be highly hypocritical of me, but we needed Destiny, Brennan and Wilson to play today and get some minutes," he said.
"Deki, Sonny and Djed have played an enormous amount of time, so having them have a little bit of a recovery and a breather, I thought was going to be helpful for us, but more importantly, now I've got three more players who are getting close to... I mean it's 90 minutes for Brennan, that's the first 90 minutes for quite a while.
"We're going to have some real options which we're going to need because we've got Europa and league back to back now and we need as many bodies available for that as possible."
In the first half it was all City as Spurs struggled to keep the ball in the opposition half, but in the second period, after some guiding words from Postecoglou, the game began to swing in the favour of the hosts.
In all they won the majority of the duels on the pitch, 57 to City's 44, coming out on top in 56% of the ground duels and 62% of the aerial ones. Elsewhere the stats were similar with Spurs having 11 shots and City 12, the hosts with six on target and the visitors five.
Tottenham had 11 shots inside the box to City's eight and played 529 passes to Guardiola's side's 416 and they had 27 touches in the opposition box with the away side having 29.
With Guglielmo Vicario required to make four saves in the opening 45 minutes, so Ederson was called upon to make six in the game, all six from shots inside the box including a low stop from Son and tipping over a Kevin Danso header. Pape Matar Sarr also had a shot headed away from goal that looked like a slice at first glance.
Ultimately, it was a deflected pass from Jeremy Doku - who gave Pedro Porro a torrid time in the first half - that caused the damage, Johnson getting a touch to send it straight to the unmarked Erling Haaland to steer home the goal that decided the match.
The game's final moments brought a Haaland effort ruled out for handball after a lengthy VAR review backed the referee's decision on the pitch, before in the next move Pape Matar Sarr headed over the crossbar unmarked from eight yards, albeit with Porro's cross taking a bounce off Son's back that didn't help the midfielder.
Tottenham had had numerous near miss moments like that, with the final ball not quite reaching the man or being fluffed in the final stage. Odobert slid wide a great Porro cross earlier in the second half and Udogie was inches away from picking out in the City box after the duo raced up the pitch together.
"First half we were just a little bit too eager to get forward with the ball. I thought we were really wasteful and when you are [like that] against City it allows them to get into a rhythm of their game," he said.
"They can pick you off at different times and we just didn't handle that part of the game well. They scored and had a couple of good chances to get further ahead.
"I certainly felt second half we dominated the game and territory. We were pretty relentless. Much better with the ball and a lot calmer but just missing a goal and ultimately fell short."
Postecoglou cut a frustrated figure on the touchline as he reacted to every missed opportunity. came on late in the game and had one chance to get the ball into the box, but fluffed it and handed City the ball with a poor short pass, leaving the Spurs boss furiously shouting across the pitch at the German and pointing where the ball should have gone before turning towards his bench in dismay.
The decision to bring on Werner was probably the main misstep of the subs that were otherwise mostly positive. The German had not been included in the squad for the win at Ipswich but with his assist for Johnson late on at the Etihad in November, that probably gave Postecoglou food for thought.
However, with Tel struggling through the middle and Dane Scarlett having made an impact at Portman Road, it was tough on the young striker to miss out on potentially doing so again. The last time he had come off the bench at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the 20-year-old had scored one goal and grabbed an assist in front of that big south stand.
Werner is not registered to play against Alkmaar next week, removed from the Europa League squad in order to fit Tel in. Postecoglou continues to give the German chances, but he keeps wasting them.
One player who does excite Postecoglou is Odobert. The Frenchman's hamstring woes this season were summed up by the fact that this was his first start for Spurs since September, but he did enough to remind everyone why the club shelled out £30million to bring him from Burnley.
The 20-year-old looked a little rusty and tentative in the first half but whatever was said to him at half-time, he came out of the traps flying for his 22 minutes in the second period. Matheus Nunes struggled to deal with him as he kept either getting past him down the flank or cutting inside as Odobert slid that one shot wide and had another deflected off target after a jinking run.
Every time he ran with the ball, Odobert looked like he had no doubt he was going to sail past whoever was trying to block his path.
"I thought he was great," said Postecoglou. "It was important tonight that him, Destiny and Brennan got some minutes. Again, it’s one thing to get guys back from injury but we have got to get them up to speed as quickly as we possibly can.
"You could see Wilson hasn’t played for a while but you could also see the quality that he has. I think he grew into the game in the second half. I thought he was a big catalyst at the beginning of the second half when he was running at the opposition.
"He is an exciting player and if we can manage him through this period and get him to a really decent level of fitness, I'm sure he will help us finish the season strong."
Other young players showed similar confidence. Archie Gray grew again as the game wore on, the 18-year-old on the whole dealing well with the considerable threat of Haaland and his physical play. Kevin Danso alongside him had a couple of switch-off moments after trying to push upfield, including for the goal, with Udogie having got himself stuck further up the pitch, but the Austrian also made plenty of key interceptions and challenges.
Lucas Bergvall's confidence in his own ability to get away from players is growing all the time as is his strength in the on-pitch battles.
He won seven of his 11 ground duels and his one aerial one, while leaving Mateo Kovacic in his wake during a couple of powerful dribbles into the City half. The 19-year-old is making it impossible for Postecoglou to drop him right now - not that he appears to want to - because the Swede brings a bravery in his passing and movement that helps Tottenham break the lines.
On the right, Johnson warmed up into the game and set up Son for a big chance and almost teed up James Maddison, had Kulusevski not toe poked the ball away from the midfielder while thinking the pass was for him.
Up top, Tel again had another tough day at the office, the pace and physicality of the Premier League something the 19-year-old is still getting used to and while those in Germany say he wants to play through the centre, it could end up being as a foil to a more focal point striker at Tottenham.
One such player, Dominic Solanke, is desperately needed. It might sound simplistic, but if the 27-year-old, with 17 goals involvements in 29 matches this season and so much more in his hold-up play, had started that game, Spurs would have taken a point if not all three from the encounter.
"Yeah, absolutely [I can't wait to get him back], Dom and Richy," said Postecoglou, "and look, Mathys is working really hard and but we're asking him to do a massive job for us at this level and he's probably one that did probably need a rest and probably does need a rest because he's come in and played every game.
"It'll be good to get Dom back in there. When he was playing for us, he was hard to stop and you can see the benefit of them having Erling in their side, so hopefully Dom's not too far away."
Postecoglou's comment about Tel needing rest caused some confusion as the Frenchman has played far less football than his team-mates. However, that's exactly the issue in his case.
Tel had only played the equivalent of little more than three matches in the Bundesliga and Champions League in the first half of the season. Since landing in N17, he has played most minutes of the five matches since and has been working hard throughout, trying to press from the front even if the quality in his hold-up play has not been present.
So Postecoglou more likely meant the teenager needed a rest in terms of his risk of injury, after loading up the teenager's muscles following months without much use.
All eyes will be on whether Solanke can get a run of training days in the week that lies ahead in order to play some part as Spurs take on AZ in Alkmaar next Thursday. He is ahead of schedule after his return from that freak knee injury suffered while taking a shot in training in January.
The second half against City was more like the Postecoglou football we've been waiting to see and it just needed Solanke at the top end to finish it off.
"You're flattened by the defeat, but in terms of the way we played and the way we went about it, it was much more like the team we want to be, and we've already shown we can do that, so there's a lesson in there for us," said Postecoglou.
"The first half, some of it was just, I think, enthusiasm and trying to be too aggressive with the ball and once we settled down and in the second half, if we can take that into games, then I think we'll be able to push on."
This is Spurs' last chance for a full week of training before Postecoglou will need to continue to use his growing squad to the fullest with four games in the space of 11 days.
He explained that his team selection on Wednesday night was with that in mind and it almost paid off with the football he wanted as the game wore on, but it still felt like a missed opportunity to continue the climb up the table.
Solanke will return and so will Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven in the week or so ahead. Postecoglou's squad will start to resemble what he wanted, with the addition of the youngsters all now being battle-hardened by this season's challenges. Now is the time for results.
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