Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou admits Man City could have ‘blown us away’ in the first-half and reveals he gave his players an expletive-ridden dressing down at the break before they secured late draw

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou praised his team for the self-belief they showed in the second half of their incident-packed 3-3 draw at Manchester City.

Dejan Kulusevski’s late header earned Spurs a point from a thrilling match in which they trailed 2-1 at the interval.

Postecoglou told Sky Sports: ‘It was an entertaining game. We were lucky to be in it at half-time to be fair, City could have blown us away during that period, similar to us last week against Aston Villa.

‘We hung in there second half a lot better, a lot more control, a lot more belief in the team, and we get our reward for that which is great for the lads.’

Asked about what he had said to his team at the break, Postecoglou said: ‘There’s probably only three words I could actually say. 

Dejan Kulusevski’s (second from right) late goal rescued a point for Tottenham at the Etihad on Sunday

‘It’s not easy – I’m always mindful that on the touchline, everything looks very simple, but out there when you’re facing an unbelievable football team, it’s difficult. 

‘It was just a message to them that, whatever happens, I’ll take responsibility for, particularly if it doesn’t go well, but go out there and just believe in ourselves, and I think they did that second half.’

The single league point pulled Spurs to within a point of the Premier League’s top four and ending their run of three consecutive defeats.

Next up for Spurs is a London derby against West Ham before hosting Eddie Howe’s high-flying Newcastle at the weekend.