'Football gods have their eyes elsewhere' - Spurs foiled by Frankfurt

Ange Postecoglou said the "football gods" have deserted his Tottenham side after they were foiled by a goalkeeping masterclass from Eintracht Frankfurt's Kaua Santos.

The Brazilian produced a string of inspired saves in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, to the frustration of Postecoglou and his players.

Frankfurt's Hugo Ekitike showed why he has caught the attention of several Premier League clubs when he put the visitors ahead inside six minutes with a superb low strike.

However, Spurs responded well and took control before Pedro Porro equalised with a bold backheel flick.

Tottenham poured forward with intensity after the interval and would have scored had it not been for the woodwork and three big saves from Santos.

In a frantic few minutes, Lucas Bergvall and Rodrigo Bentancur both rattled the crossbar, while Son Heung-min and James Maddison each had a curling effort stopped by the goalkeeper.

Deep into stoppage time, Santos was the hero for Frankfurt again with a fine fingertip save from Micky van de Ven's bouncing header.

"I'm resigned to the fact that the football gods have got their eyes elsewhere this year," Postecoglou said afterwards.

"They're obviously busy with other clubs and other managers, so whatever we get we're going to have to do it without them this year."

Sitting 14th in the Premier League and out of both domestic cups, the Europa League is Tottenham's only remaining chance of silverware success this season.

It also offers the trophy winners a route into the 2025-26 Champions League.

Head coach Postecoglou, who is looking to maintain his record of "always winning" trophies in his second season, will need a strong showing from his side when they travel to face Frankfurt in the second leg on 17 April.

This has been a disappointing season for Spurs and Postecoglou's future at the club may hinge on this competition, if his fate has not already been decided.

In his pre-match news conference, the under-pressure Australian boss said he was aware that even ending this term with a European triumph may not be enough to convince some fans that he is the right person for the job.

With Frankfurt's spirited home support and a 58,000-capacity Waldstadion awaiting in the reverse fixture, a positive first-leg performance was a must for Spurs.

And, to an extent, they delivered. It was an entertaining showing from Postecoglou's players, who did everything well after half-time apart from finding the back of the Frankfurt net.

The visitors' opener arrived when Maddison lost possession in Eintracht's half and, with Spurs' defence out of position, Ellyes Skhiri threaded a brilliant ball to Ekitike.

Porro failed to close down the 22-year-old Frenchman, who cut in from the left and darted towards the edge of the box before firing low past Guglielmo Vicario into the far corner.

Maddison and Porro soon redeemed themselves at the other end, linking up for the equaliser as Maddison clipped the ball back for Porro, who guided it in with a wonderful flick of his heel.

Tottenham continued to rack up the chances after half-time, but they were unable to beat the crossbar or Santos, who has been filling in for Frankfurt's injured first-choice goalkeeper Kevin Trapp for the past month.

"It's going to be that sort of the season - nothing is going to come to us easy," Postecoglou said.

"We're going to have to go there and fight now to get what I felt we deserved tonight, and that's what we'll try and do."

Source: BBC Sport