Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou was unhappy with the VAR’s decision to award Brighton a first-half penalty in his side’s loss at the Amex Stadium.
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou admitted his side looked “like a tired team” during a 4-2 loss to Brighton, in which they “struggled to cope” with the home side.
Spurs picked up some good form after they halted a streak of five games without a win between November and early December. They strung together three wins in the aftermath of that poor run, agains Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Everton.
But their rebuild was gloriously halted by Brighton, who thumped four past them during a 4-2 win. The Seagulls scored twice in each half to go 4-0 up, and Tottenham could not add to their two late consolation goals.
Speaking to BBC Sport after the match, Postecoglou put the poor performance down to tiredness given the tight festive schedule.
“It is fair to say we looked like a tired team today, which is understandable. We’ve asked a lot of these players for a very long time and we lacked a little bit of energy today,” he said.
We haven’t been able to give the players a break at all and what we ask is pretty taxing.”
He was complimentary of Brighton, who he felt ran his side ragged and deserved the win.
“They are a good team and we struggled to cope with them. We hung in there and that’s all you can ask for, they left everything out there,” Postecoglou added.
Tottenham conceded from two penalties, which the boss felt were fairly given, though he did suggest there were positives despite losing 4-2.
“There are no grumbles from me with the penalties. They were clear and obvious. It’s amazing that VAR picks up everything apart from a tackle that maybe puts out another of our players,” Postecoglou said.
“There were positives at the end this group of players are giving everything at the moment. It is demanding to play the football we ask and they are doing it week in week out. It’s not for a lack of effort.”
