Ryan Mason promised Tottenham’s players will stick together between now and the end of the season after they staged an impressive second-half comeback to draw with Manchester United.
Spurs were coming off the back of a 6-1 drubbing away to Newcastle on Sunday and looked in trouble again when Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford fired United into a 2-0 half-time lead.
But Mason rallied his players at the break and they hit back strongly in the second half, goals from Pedro Porro and Son Heung-min rescuing the result and reminding home fans of their team’s powers of recovery after the debacle on Tyneside.
That result led to the sacking of interim coach Cristian Stellini by Daniel Levy, and the Tottenham chairman was the target of Spurs fans’ anger in the first half when it looked like their team would be overrun.
Mason, who has been installed until the end of the season whilst Levy searches for a permanent successor to Antonio Conte, said he was proud of his players for their fight and the way they went at United with the Newcastle result fresh in their minds.
“It’s been difficult after Sunday because the manner in which we lost wasn’t nice for anyone to be involved with,” said Mason. “But the most important thing now until the end of the season will always be to stick together as a team.
“Football – small details can change games, change results but ultimately the most important thing is to be together. And to everyone – the fans, the outside world looking in, they’ll see a team that’s solid and united together. And when you are that you have a chance of success.
“(We have) big character, big personalities, stuck together, kept believing and acted as a team throughout the whole game. That pleases me after what happened at the weekend because we probably didn’t have that as a group.
“And off the back of how the first half went in terms of the scoreline, to go out at half-time and stick together, fight for each other and really got our fans involved, I thought they helped us massively, and it’s pleasing.
“It proves a lot to me what I already thought about this group but to see that on to the pitch is a good feeling.”
Though admirable, the result did little to revive Spurs’ rapidly diminishing hopes of catching United in the race to qualify for the Champions League.
The gap to Erik ten Hag’s side in fourth stands at six points with Tottenham having played two games more.
Mason was asked whether at 2-2 he was tempted to go after the win that would have gone some of the way towards reeling in United and breathing life into the top-four scramble.
“We invested so much energy into getting that scoreline at 2-2,” he said. “It felt like we were almost acting a little emotionally to try and get that third, and sometimes that’s great but at the same time I felt there were a couple of moments when we looked a bit leggy, a bit open unnecessarily.
“So we changed it a little bit – still try and win the game but at the same time recognise the game and moment we were in.
“I felt once we had got the second goal the lads had sort of invested so much energy into it that we went a little bit flat and they took a little bit of control of the game without really creating anything.
“To come off 2-2 off the back of going in 2-0 down at half-time is a positive.”
Ten Hag reflected on a game in which, after a solid first half in which they dominated Spurs and were clinical with their chances, control of the match ultimately got away from them once they lost their dominance of the ball after the break.
“After half-time, there was a difference,” said Ten Hag. “We lost the control. We were not ball-secure. Then you have to go into the fight.
“When you lose your battles, you don’t block the crosses, when you don’t squeeze out, you don’t block shots, you concede goals and that’s what happened.
“Finally you have to be satisfied and take that point.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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