Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank was impressed with his side’s resilience, as they fought back from two goals down to secure a point at Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday night.
Following their 1-0 win over Villareal in the opening matchday of this season’s UCL, Spurs headed into the clash hoping for back-to-back wins to begin their tournament.
Both sides had met in the UEFA Europa League semifinal last season, with the English side coming out 5-1 victors on aggregate on their way to winning the tournament.
It was a different ball game entirely this time around, as the home side were denied a stunning victory by a late rally from the visitors.
The referee awarded a penalty to the Norwegians for a foul by Rodrigo Bentacur, giving them the chance to go ahead.
Kasper Hogh wasted the opportunity, blazing over from 12 yards as the game remained goalless at the interval.
The home side came out firing as they did in the first and got their deserved lead in the 53rd minute, following a brilliant curler by Jens Petter Hauge.
Rodrigo Bentacur thought he had atoned for his earlier error resulting in Bodo’s penalty with the equalizer, but was denied after VAR disallowed his goal for a foul by Micky Van de Ven in the buildup.
One became two moments later as Petter Hauge got his second of the night to spark jubilant scenes among the home supporters.
Van de Ven pulled one back for Spurs with a header two minutes later, before Gundersen bundled into his own net late in the game to complete the fightback for the visitors.
It marked a second comeback for the North London side in the space of few days, after their last-gasp equalizer against Wolves in the EPL last weekend.
Frank hails display of mentality
Thomas Frank was really pleased that his side produced a late comeback to secure an important point away from home.
“The first positive is that the mentality and character of the players was very good. We stayed in the game and kept fighting. That gave us a very good point away from home. When you’re 2-0 down against a Bodo team that is very good here, we need to be happy with that”, Frank said after the match
“Until 2-0, especially in the first half, Bodo was better than us. We know they are exceptionally good at what they’re doing. They’re well coached. That was clear to see in the first half. We struggled a little bit defensively with the high pressure and we should’ve been braver on the ball.
“I don’t want to complain about the surface. It is what it is. There were scenarios where we could’ve kept the ball better. The most important thing is to keep trying and keep doing the right thing”, he continued.
