Unexpected Tottenham benefit for Mikey Moore as Ange Postecoglou responds to Lucas Bergvall boos

There's a certain irony to the fact that Tottenham have played reasonably well in their Premier League matches early in this season and not got the results they deserved and then went to Championship side Coventry, stunk the place out, yet emerged with a completely undeserved last-gasp win.

It's just the way football works. A single moment can transform everything. Ange Postecoglou was three minutes of normal time away from having his team selection bemoaned, his methods ripped apart and his statement just days earlier about his second season silverware record mocked from pillar to post.

Yet two goals within four last-gasp minutes mean that instead Spurs will play two further rounds ahead of where they exited the Carabao Cup last season, two players perhaps lacking in confidence came away as match-winners and Postecoglou's risk with his team selection has ultimately borne fruit with a victory and Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Pedro Porro and Guglielmo Vicario all completely fresh to face Brentford on Saturday with Son Heung-min, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski have played many minutes either.

It was somewhat fitting that this last-gasp win came against a side managed by Mark Robbins. The former striker famously scored the Manchester United goal in the FA Cup third round that is believed to have saved Alex Ferguson's job and sparked 23 years of success at the club. Perhaps Ange Postecoglou is hoping that Brennan Johnson is his own Mark Robbins.

Make no mistake though, this was one of the worst performances you'll have ever seen produced from a Tottenham side that ended with a victory.

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They were horrendous for long periods, with 70% of the possession and 582 passes but no idea what to do with the ball. They could barely string forward passes together or show any movement into space if they'd been able to. They just could not find a route through to goal for all but their late dramatic finale.

Coventry, who have only won one of their five Championship games so far this season, had 15 shots at goal to Spurs' nine and the visitors had not even attempted an effort until the second half.

Yet when football.london suggested to Postecoglou after the game that his team had looked flat before showing some late character, he wasn't having it.

"Yeah, I don't know, flat performance is a bit harsh. I thought it was a typical cup game. I thought Coventry were really good. They put some real energy into the game, and we couldn't really get a grip on it," he said.

"So we had to hang in there. We had to work really, really hard just to stay in the game and obviously going a goal behind makes it even more challenging.

"But like you said at the end there we showed some real spirit and character, which is probably what's been missing in the first four games. We've had the performance, but we haven't had that relentlessness to get a result. You sense that in the last 10 minutes, we got real belief out of that, and hopefully that's a good sign moving forward."

Spurs were incredibly fortunate the game was not sealed long before they found a dramatic route back through Djed Spence and Johnson's saving goals.

Both goals displayed all of the quality Tottenham had been lacking. The move for Spence's equaliser was the best of the game. The full-back raced down the left flank, stopped and passed to Rodrigo Bentancur. The Uruguayan picked out James Maddison, who played a first time pass between the lines to Dejan Kulusevski.

The Swede held the ball up well before turning and playing a cute nutmeg pass right into the path of the sprinting Spence, who managed to touch it past the keeper while being pushed over, for his first goal for the club.

For the winner in the 91st minute, Bentancur won the ball back in midfield, raced up the pitch and picked out Johnson with an inch-perfect through ball and the Wales international sent a first-time little dinked effort on the run past the goalkeeper and into the far corner.

The celebrations were muted, mostly because Tottenham knew how poor they had been and their only two real quality moments in the entire game had somehow proved to be enough to take them through to the next round.

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Coventry and their fans were deflated and understandably so. They had scored a good breakaway goal through Brandon Thomas-Asante, who swept in Norman Bassette's low cross in the 63rd minute. They had then seen ball after ball fly across the face of Spurs' six-yard box as nobody could quite get the final touch in front of goal to put it beyond the Premier League side's grasp.

"It was really difficult. There wasn't one part of us that underestimated Coventry," Johnson told Sky after the game. "Me personally, Archie as well and Djed have played against Coventry a few times and we know they play good football.

"We were well aware of what they could bring. At times, I thought we let them on too easy, we gave them too many chances to get at us, especially after they scored. We were under some real pressure but at the end of the day we always keep going."

He added on the messy performance: "I think that's probably happened too many times this season for us, it's been too chaotic. Obviously we play a certain style of football but we gave the ball away too many times, we didn't execute the passes we wanted to make, we weren't too much of a threat, on the counter-attack especially.

"When we play the ball quickly - that's what it was. For most of the game we didn't play forward enough, pass the ball and get in behind. The goals just came from quick play, that's what we want to do more often because there's been too many games this season where we haven't done that enough."

Postecoglou had made eight changes from the team that played in the North London Derby four days before and while he got away with it in the end, some of those selected almost cost him the result.

Take Timo Werner for example. The German put in a performance so dreadful that when he went down injured in the 73rd minute, his absence would not have been realised had Tottenham continued with 10 men.

The 28-year-old lost the ball three times through his own poor touches, didn't make a single key pass, dribble or have a shot at goal. His only contribution was a sliding block in his own box. As a Spurs attacker he offered absolutely nothing. Whoscored's player ratings, which are compiled using match statistics, had Werner on the lowest score of any starting player on the pitch with 5.64.

Wilson Odobert was almost as poor, albeit in only 17 minutes before going off with what looked like a hamstring injury. Postecoglou said afterwards that he believed both were muscle injuries.

"Hard to say, Wilson looked fairly significant, so we'll just wait and see," he told football.london about those two injuries. "Timo, again not really sure if it was just fatigue but yeah, a bit unfortunate for both of those. Obviously, both play in a similar position as well. We're hoping it's nothing too significant."

Postecoglou's two wingers contributed nothing in terms of service for Dominic Solanke, who touched the ball just 24 times in his 61 minutes on the pitch. The 27-year-old at least managed one key pass and one dribble, but was still mostly anonymous and isolated.

The problem for Postecoglou was that while his squad players need minutes like this in order to be better for the coming European games, we still had to sit and watch the eyesore that was them all trying to find their rhythm at the same time. Hopefully the short-term pain for us all will help them bring long-term benefits in the games ahead.

But watching someone like Fraser Forster was hard work at times. The experienced goalkeeper looked like what he is, someone who was playing his first competitive game in more than a year, the last time being the Carabao Cup exit to Fulham last season, and having been out for six months through injury this year.

The 36-year-old pulled off a couple of important saves in either half, one after a woeful pass of his, but he also looked so shaky in claiming the ball from the air, fumbling it out of his hands on numerous occasions but fortunately was able to gather at the second attempt.

Then there was the second half moment when he ran out to try to claim a ball outside his box that he wouldn't have reached 10 years ago, let alone now. Instead he clattered into Radu Dragusin and he was lucky that Ben Davies made a goal-saving block behind them both.

The only real positives of Spurs' starting XI were the experiences for the younger players making their debuts.

Archie Gray had some tough times as a right-back despite his previous experience in doing so in that stadium. Coventry constantly got in behind him but that will all be part of his learning experience and whenever he was on the ball you could see his quality, including one jinking run that ended with him being hacked down unceremoniously by former Tottenham academy player Luis Binks.

Gray needs game time in midfield in the weeks ahead as that's where he's really going to show what he's made of.

"It's a difficult place to come. I played here last year and even at our ground last year, I was playing and they always bring a tough game," said the teenager. "Lots of transitions, that's the way they play.

"They did well in this game, the fans got behind them, they brought a good game to us. Credit to them but we always knew we had what it takes to take it right to the end, but they did very well, and I thought the game plan was executed very well as well."

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Even more impressive on the night was his fellow 18-year-old Lucas Bergvall. The young Swede had a shaky start, not helped by a poor Forster pass which had him sliding to try to get it and that seemed to knock his confidence slightly.

However, that quickly returned and he was soon calling for the ball in both halves and trying to make things happen. His confidence in taking the ball in tight situations before twisting and turning, as well as trying creative progressive passing is exactly what Postecoglou wants. He was just unfortunate that his team-mates often weren't on the same wavelength.

It was the first extended game time for Bergvall of the season and Postecoglou took him off 61 minutes in, prompting boos from the travelling Tottenham faithful in the stands at the Coventry Building Society Arena.

"I don't make substitutions by poll, mate. I'm sure the fans have got their own opinions, but Lucas, that's his first sort of significant game time for quite a while. What I didn't want was us pushing guys over the edge today, that's why we took Destiny [Udogie] off at half-time as well," said the Spurs boss.

"We already had a couple of injuries, and I had some pretty good players on the bench that I thought could make an impact, but it doesn't take away from Lucas's performance. I thought he was outstanding tonight. They're going to play a lot of football for us and hopefully getting through tonight, whether it's 90 minutes for Archie or you know, 60, 70 for Lucas, will put them in a good space."

In the end it was the substitutes who made all of the difference. For Spence it was a big night. Not only his first goal for the club but a performance that showed how well he can play the inverted full-back role, even on the left, and he made one terrific goal-saving interception in his own box.

It was a display that made a mockery of the decision to leave him out of Tottenham's Europa League squad. The 24-year-old could have offered so much across the coming eight group stage matches. Instead he will watch on from the stands.

His driving runs were a highlight in the second half on Wednesday, although the movements of others did not match his until the 87th minute.

For Spence, the prospect of more Premier League minutes now beckons as Postecoglou will trust him to fill in on either flank.

“It meant a lot. It was a good feeling - especially to get the team back in the game and then the win," Spence said after the game in his club interview "So, yes, the goal meant a lot.

"The manager said just to be ready [before I came on], that was it really. Change the game and hopefully get the three points.

"I’m happy to be in the plans. I’m happy to keep moving forward with the team. Hopefully we keep winning and we can go on from there. I’m looking forward. I’ve just got to stay ready and be ready for whenever I’m called upon, like today."

The other gamechangers from the bench were Kulusevski and Maddison. The former has been Spurs' best forward-thinking player since the return to pre-season and the latter's ability to dictate the tempo and find those between-the-lines passes, like he managed to the Swede for the equaliser, make him important in getting Tottenham up the pitch.

For Johnson, his clever winning goal came at the end of a few days that have been tough on him. He was unable to reproduce his bright display at Newcastle in the North London Derby and so the odious abusers slithered towards the 23-year-old's Instagram account on Sunday, prompting him to deactivate the whole thing.

Postecoglou spoke strongly on Tuesday about both those who feel the need to abuse online but also about how much belief he has in Johnson to become a star in his team.

The Wales international responded with the winning goal the following night. His celebrations were muted, perhaps partly because of Spurs' performance but also perhaps because of his unpleasant scapegoating at times this season.

"It's obviously a great feeling to score, especially so late," he said after the final whistle. "Just to get into the next round, obviously penalties is like a toss of a coin so getting a goal late was really beneficial."

Hopefully his match-winning moment gives Johnson the confidence boost he needs after a tough start to the season.

football.london asked Postecoglou how important it was for both Johnson and Spence to enjoy key roles.

"Yeah both were really good. They made an impact when they came on," he said. "Look, it wasn't an easy night for us, as I said, credit to Coventry. You know, a lot of guys getting first starts, but I really think there's some positives in there with Archie and Lucas and these guys getting some significant game time for us.

"And Djed, and as you said with Brennan, you know I spoke about it yesterday that he comes in, works hard at his game and when you're an attacking player, you're always getting measured against certain things. I said, if he can get through this period and just be positive and and play like he can, he can be a significant contributor to us and credit to him. He got a good goal tonight."

Just five games into the season and Spurs are already down to bare bones on their bench. There is every chance they could have Odobert, Werner, Yves Bissouma, Richarlison and young Will Lankshear out injured on Saturday for the Premier League match against Brentford.

The absences will benefit two people - Sergio Reguilon and Mikey Moore - who will likely both be on the bench to face Brentford on Saturday. Postecoglou would likely have felt he had no real need for Reguilon but registered him in the Premier League just in case after the Spanish left-back could not find a move away this summer. That just in case has come to pass.

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For 17-year-old Moore, the injuries to Odobert and Werner could open the door to a big chance. In a different script on Wednesday night, the teenager dribbler would have come on at Coventry, but now he could end up with more than that as Postecoglou is suddenly low on wingers.

Moore could end up getting Premier League minutes and likely starting Europa League games, otherwise Postecoglou is going to have to overplay Son Heung-min and Brennan Johnson.

Postecoglou's celebrations at Johnson's winning goal were as muted as the attacker's. He allowed himself a couple of low key fist pumps, knowing that while his selection decisions had come off, it easily could and should have been so different.

When explaining his decision to make eight changes to his team despite his call to win silverware for Spurs, Postecoglou said: "I've always tried to do what I think is the right thing. The best thing for us, in terms of what we're trying to achieve, and you know that there's no guarantees with anything you do in football.

"But what I've always done is back my decisions in critical times to always do what I feel is best, and if it doesn't work out, I can live with that. But I'm certainly not going to jeopardise what we're trying to build here by doing something that's going to make me look like I'm in a safer position.

"So we were always going to play these guys because we've got Europe starting next week. The last thing I want to do is throw guys in out of necessity. We need to get game time and tonight, some key players for us got some good minutes that means that when we do need to make changes moving forward, they've already played and they're ready to go."

Postecoglou's gamble ended up paying off when last year it did not. Both years the result was on a knife-edge but it fell the Australian's way this time.

He knows there is still plenty to work on at Tottenham, especially in the final third, but this last-gasp win at least reminded the players what happens when they show the relentless, never give up football that Postecoglou calls for.

This was an abomination of a Spurs performance until the final minutes but ultimately Postecoglou's men won a game they should and normally would have lost. It might have been the most brazen act of thievery since the Great Train Robbery, but it might just be the unexpected stick of dynamite that makes Tottenham's season finally explode to life.

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