Ange Postecoglou explains controversial gesture towards Tottenham fans during Chelsea defeat | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou waved away claims that he deliberately antagonised his own club's fans by cupping his ear in their direction during Thursday's Premier League defeat to Chelsea.

Spurs were already trailing 1-0 thanks to Enzo Fernandez's second-half header when Postecoglou turned to his bench. The decision to replace fan-favourite Lucas Bergvall with Pape Sarr in the 64th minute was met with jeers and chants of "You don't know what you're doing" from the away end at Stamford Bridge.

Within two minutes, Sarr let rip with a long-range effort which crashed off Robert Sanchez's wrist, onto the underside of the crossbar and over the line. Postecoglou celebrated by turning towards the away end - which had stopped their vocal dissent to hail Tottenham's second shot on target of the match - and cupping his ear.

A VAR review found that Sarr had fouled Moises Caicedo before finding the back of the net. Tottenham's equaliser was swiftly ruled out and Postecoglou's seemingly provocative gesture came under scrutiny after Chelsea comfortably saw out a 1-0 win.

Ange Postecoglou was not impressed with his side's display on Thursday / Alex Pantling/GettyImages

"Jeez mate, it's incredible how things get interpreted," Postecoglou sighed when asked about his actions after the match. "We'd just scored, I just wanted to hear them cheer. Because we'd been through a tough time, and I thought it was a cracking goal.

"I wanted them to get really excited. I felt at that point we could potentially go on and win the game. I just felt momentum was on our [side]. It doesn't bother me. It's not the first time they've booed my substitutions or my decisions. That's fine, they're allowed to do that.

"But we'd just scored a goal, just scored an equaliser, I was just hoping we could get some excitement. If people want to read into that that somehow I'm trying to make a point about something, like I said, we'd been through a tough time, but I just felt there was a bit of a momentum shift there.

"If they get really behind the lads, I thought we had the momentum to finish on top of them."

Tottenham's 16th defeat of the Premier League season leaves them languishing 14th in the Premier League table. The north London outfit are still involved in the Europa League, with an increasingly daunting quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt fast approaching, but Postecoglou's position at the helm appears to be precarious.

Spurs midfielder James Maddison didn't question the dissent seeping out of the travelling fans. "They have every right to be an angry bunch at the moment," the England international admitted.

"I don't really want to be here talking and I'm sure the fans don't want to listen to me. It can still be a very special season if we lift silverware. We need them as much as they need us, so the message is to stick together."