Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou gave his side credit for showing improved "conviction" in the second half of their pulsating 3-3 Premier League draw with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The injury-hit Lilywhites crop travelled north as firm underdogs against the treble winners, having suffered three straight defeats to Chelsea, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa during a dismal decline.
Not since 2004 had Spurs been beaten in four successive Premier League fixtures, but they got off to the perfect start at the Etihad Stadium, where Son Heung-min took just six minutes to break the deadlock.
However, the Lilywhites captain went from hero to zero with an own goal just three minutes later, and Phil Foden's strike saw the Citizens enter the half-time interval with a slender lead.
That advantage was soon wiped out by Giovani Lo Celso's second goal in as many gameweeks, and Spurs came from behind for a second time to salvage a dramatic point, as Jack Grealish's finish preceded a 90th-minute Dejan Kulusevski header.
Spurs benefitted from a bizarre call from Simon Hooper right at the death, though, as the referee initially waved play on after Emerson Royal had tripped Erling Haaland, only to blow his whistle with Grealish one-on-one with Guglielmo Vicario.
Enraged Man City players crowded Hooper, who was also lambasted by Haaland at the full-time whistle, but amid the furore, Tottenham travelled back to North London with an unexpected point in the bag.
Speaking to the media after the game, as quoted by football.london, Postecoglou conceded that his side were fortunate not to have been blown to smithereens by Man City in the first half, but he was delighted with the belief that his side demonstrated in the second period.
"First half we were lucky to still be in it to be honest. City could have blown us away during that period. They certainly had enough chances to do so. We had no real conviction or belief in what we were doing, we were giving the ball away a lot," Postecoglou said.
"We hung in there I guess. It was similar to us last week that we lost a lot of chances but sometimes in football you give the opposition a chance. We had to just calm down at half-time and the effort the boys put in during the second half was outstanding.
"Again it's very easy to get blown away at this arena against such a great team, but we hung in there and we made it uncomfortable for City I thought in the whole second half.
"They never really got total control of the game and that's the key to getting something out of it. We scored three quality goals which you have to against a team like that. So pleased for the players that the effort they put in in the second half they got a reward for it.
"I said to them at half-time, whatever fallout or bad outcome there is, I'll take the responsibility. I'm the one that's putting them out there. Let's at least show a little bit more conviction about the kind of football team we want to be and I thought they did that in the second half.
"You're never going to totally dominate a game of football here but in the second half I thought we were very much in the game against a very good football side."
Sunday's six-goal thriller also saw Richarlison make an unexpectedly quick return from groin surgery to come on for a second-half cameo, and Postecoglou also confirmed that Pape Sarr should be back in training by the end of the week.
Tottenham's point was enough for Postecoglou's side to rise back above Newcastle United into fifth place in the table ahead of Thursday's London derby with West Ham United, where Cristian Romero will return from a three-game suspension. body check tags ::
