Tottenham beat Eintracht Frankfurt to keep season alive as Ange Postecoglou gets huge lifeline

Even the greatest of optimists would have struggled to envisage Tottenham pulling this off. But when Ange Postecoglou promised to fight "tooth and nail" for a place in the Europa League semi-finals in Wednesday evening's press conference he was undoubtedly true to his word.

This was supposed to be his final act as Spurs boss but the hard-nosed Aussie will deservedly live to fight another day after executing a masterful European away performance to provide a timely reminder of his managerial qualities.

Having tasted defeat a staggering 21 times in all competitions this season, his unpredictable strugglers looked destined to fold amid the hostility of one of the continent's most ferocious atmospheres but it only spurred Tottenham on as Dominic Solanke hit a first-half winner from the penalty spot.

And for anyone doubting whether Postecoglou still had the backing of his dressing room, Spurs' brave heroes ran through brick walls for their manager. Big Ange has repeatedly claimed the Europa League represented opportunity - not a shot at salvation - and who knows where their peculiar season might take them after this rollercoaster victory.

Micky van den Ven bullishly claimed he planned to "eliminate" 21-goal striker Hugo Ekitike and he certainly stood on business. Frankfurt goalkeeper Kaua Santos' long punt skidded over the top of Spurs' backline but the jet-heeled Dutchman displayed his remarkable turn of pace before sliding in riskily to extinguish the danger.

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You began to wonder whether it just might be Tottenham's night when Mario Gotze hobbled off with a hamstring issue inside 17 minutes before moments later, Mathys Tel scuffed a cutback notably wide on the counter-attack. The Frenchman, who was a January transfer target for Eintracht having previously worked under their boss Dino Toppmoller at Bayern Munich, had the bit between his teeth on his return to Germany.

Tel, an embodiment of Spurs' growing confidence having scored in back-to-back Premier League matches, then let fly from distance, forcing a credible diving stop from Santos. Then came the well-deserved breakthrough, James Maddison raced onto Cristian Romero's lofted pass and beat Frankfurt's busy Brazilian goalkeeper to the ball.

Santos took the lot and following a lengthy delay as both players received extensive treatment, referee Davide Massa unsurprisingly pointed to the spot after being sent to the screen. Postecoglou gestured for Solanke - 11 games without a goal - to take the resulting spot-kick and the vote of confidence was gratefully received as Spurs' £65million club-record signing cooly dispatched from 12-yards.

Maddison proved to be the sacrificial lamb, the purring playmaker could not continue following the blow and was replaced by Dejan Kulusevski.

Frankfurt, fresh from the 3-0 demolition of Heidenheim on Sunday, looked bizarrely short of confidence and rhythm - much to Spurs' brilliance - and their frustration was typified just before half-time when Frankfurt's assistant Jan Fiesser was shown red.

A brilliant Lucas Bergvall block lifted Tottenham and they nearly doubled their advantage when stand-in skipper Romero headed Pedro Porro's corner narrowly wide.

The hosts, who lifted the Europa League under Oliver Glasner in 2022, were not willing to let their dream die without a fight and Guglielmo Vicario made a sublime reactionary stop to keep out Fares Chaibi before Rasmus Kristensen went agonisingly close on three separate occasions.

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