Spurs finally show real fight to keep Europa hopes alive

Tottenham Hotspur may not have the lead in this Europa League quarter-final, but they do have a sense of life.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

They were much the better team against an awkward but uninspired Eintracht Frankfurt, in a 1-1 home draw that could have gone much worse.

Ange Postecoglou can tell his players they have the winning of this tie even in Frankfurt. He himself might say that would make a difference from the rest of the talk around Spurs of late. There’s a bit of hope and spirit. They’re alive in a competition that could yet save the manager’s job and the season, when the campaign has seemed moribund.

Instead, Pedro Porro personified a spirit of revival, recovering from his own error for Hugo Ekitike’s fine opening strike to score a brilliant goal of his own. James Maddison cut the ball back for Poro to flick the ball in with his heel. It was vintage Lee Sharpe, or Gianfranco Zola, depending on when you want to hark back to.

In truth, the quality of the goals belonged to a match other than this one. It might be easy to carp about the level of the sides and these Europa League quarter-finals, but the context matters.

It would have been very easy for Spurs to implode after Ekitike’s goal. After months of noise and doubt, which led to the manager openly talking about his own future before the game, the excuse was there for the stadium and the team to simply deflate.