Flash back to the middle of September, after Spurs’ North London derby loss to bitter rivals Arsenal, when a defiant Postecoglou affirmed that he “always” wins trophies in his second year in charge of a club – a statement history shows us is indeed true.
On Wednesday evening, the Australian took a huge step towards fulfilling that promise to the Tottenham faithful, when Timo Werner ended his profligate streak and Pape Sarr curled home a sublime finish from 25 yards to crush Manchester City’s quadruple dreams.
Another mammoth Mancunian test versus Manchester United – likely to be under the wing of Ruben Amorim later this month – awaits Spurs in the quarter-finals, but rectifying the mistakes of their last Premier League outing is now Postecoglou’s number one priority.
A toothless Tottenham did not deserve anything from their trip to a hitherto winless Crystal Palace in gameweek nine, and that is exactly what they got, as Jean-Philippe Mateta fired the Eagles to their first top-flight win of the season and left Spurs eighth in the standings.
The Lilywhites already have a five-point gap to make up to their fourth-placed visitors, but the shock beating of Man City in midweek represented their fifth straight home victory in all competitions; AZ Alkmaar, Qarabag, Brentford and West Ham United have all been victims of that streak too.
