TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — See you next week, said Bodo/Glimt coach Kjetil Knutsen, rising from his seat in the media suite. He followed that with the menacing chuckle of a comic villain warning of trouble ahead.
Tottenham Hotspur opened the scoring after 44 seconds and, leading 3-0 early in the second half, were one more goal from killing the tie.
The fourth goal duly arrived with eight minutes of the first leg remaining, but it was not scored by Spurs, and a night that felt so good for so long ended with a sense of foreboding. The Spurs players felt it, Ange Postecoglou felt it, and most of all the stadium felt it, both sets of fans.
“You could see when Tottenham conceded they were really disappointed and lost energy,” Knutsen observed.
“We got a lot of energy because of it. If you ask me, we should have gone for a second. But we can take this energy forward. It’s totally different at home. We are not the favourites but we will really go for it. Hopefully we will have more scoring opportunities.”
"If we play the same way we did today, we'll get the result we need"
Ange Postecoglou was delighted with his side's performance against Bodø/Glimt
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Bodo don’t need many. Their only shot on target found the net, a neat finish from skipper Ulrik Saltnes to burnish a lightening move.
It was reward for a second half in which they had 70 per cent possession characterised by swift, technical endeavour. Bodo are more accomplished than the folky impression projected, a metropolitan outfit without a metropolis.
As you might expect Postecoglou would not bite on the suggestion that Spurs had surrendered something vital by conceding so late. What could have been a four-goal advantage, what should have been a three-goal advantage, finished at a distinctly insecure two, no matter Spurs would have taken that at the start.
A week hence they face a team that has compiled a 70 per cent win record at home over the past three seasons of European competition, compared to a mere nine per cent success away. Clearly the artificial surface is a factor in that equation, which Postecoglou knows all about as a prior victim when managing Celtic.
“Look, it is on artificial grass, but it’s still a game of football,” Postecoglou said. “I’ve been there, I know the experience and what is important for us is we need to replicate what we did today.
“Irrespective of the surface, if we’re as disciplined and as organised as we were today, with and without the ball, it won’t matter what the surface is. I think it will make it really difficult for us to be stopped.”
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The last to leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were dressed in yellow. The Bodo devotees stayed behind to salute the players and cheer the subs warming down. Only when the last player disappeared did they retreat. This is a communal venture, and for those who made the trip as well as those who watched at home, this contest is clearly not over.
Bodo regrouped impressively after conceding a third from the spot with half an hour to play. To add to Postecoglou’s difficulties, he was forced to withdraw man-of-the-match James Maddison, scorer of a spectacular second, and Dominic Solanke, who stroked home the penalty, with knee and quadricep injuries respectively.
This has been the motif of the season for Postecoglou, whose patience as well as his position has been eroded seemingly beyond repair, a feature reflected in post-match conferences that have become increasingly terse.
“I thought our performance was everything it needed to be, really well organised and disciplined defensively and really calm going forward and created good opportunities, maintaining pressure,” he said, in a manner that sounded like a justification for keeping his job.
“Obviously they scored the goal late, which doesn’t I think reflect our dominance in the game, but if we repeat that performance next week, it’ll be enough for us to get through. I get that Bodo away is a difficult fixture, but I think in Europe this year we’ve been really good at managing whatever situation we’re in.”
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