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• 'The foundations are really fragile' - Postecoglou reeling after Spurs' defeat to Man City

  Ange Postecoglou claimed the foundations at Tottenham are "really fragile" after a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City put paid to their Champions League qualification hopes.

  Erling Haaland struck twice in the second half as City leapfrogged Spurs' bitter rivals Arsenal to return to the Premier League summit heading into the final day.

  Postecoglou had been left flabbergasted in the build-up by Tottenham fans claiming they would be happy to lose to Pep Guardiola's side in order to dent the Gunners' title bid.

  And while there was a generally flat atmosphere inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, home supporters were filmed celebrating City's opening goal while others chanted "are you watching Arsenal?"

  The head coach, who was also captured arguing with a Spurs fan, was left far from impressed as his side's top-four hopes ended, with Aston Villa securing a place in next season's Champions League at their expense.

  "The foundations are really fragile," he said. "The last 48 hours have shown me that. "It's inside the club, outside the club, everywhere. It's been an interesting exercise. It's just my observations.

  "I can't dictate what people do. They're allowed to express themselves any way they want. But when we've got late winners in games, it's because the crowd has helped us.

  "Maybe, I'm out of step, but I just don't care, I just want to win. I want to be successful at this football club; that's why I was brought in. So how other people want to feel, and what their priorities are, are of zero interest to me.

  "I know what's important to build a winning team - that's what I need to concentrate on."

• Postecoglou rues missed chances against City as Son squanders decisive opportunity

  Ange Postecoglou was left to rue missed chances as Tottenham's Champions League hopes were ended after Tuesday's 2-0 defeat to Manchester City.

  Spurs needed three points to take the Premier League's top-four race to the final day but were undone by Pep Guardiola's side, who moved within touching distance of another top-flight title.

  Erling Haaland's routine tap-in from Kevin De Bruyne's brilliance after 51 minutes proved a cruel blow before the City striker's stoppage-time penalty sealed a decisive three points.

  It could have been a different story, though, if Stefan Ortega – on as a second-half substitute for Ederson – did not deny Heung-min Son's gilt-edged chance following Manuel Akanji's error.

  The City goalkeeper denied the onrushing Spurs forward when one-on-one with the visitors 1-0 up, and Postecoglou acknowledged his side failed to seize their opportunities.

  "We lost the game so it was a missed chance for three points," the frustrated Tottenham manager told Sky Sports.

  "We had the opportunities and we had to punish them. It was a tight game and in the big moments we were not able to capitalise and they were.

  "I thought we were in the game the whole time, even at 1-0 we had a great chance to go level.

  "In the second half we were chasing the game so they got a little more space but I thought we were well in it up until that point [the second goal]."

  Spurs' loss proved Aston Villa's gain as Unai Emery's side qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history, ending a 41-year absence after last featuring in the European Cup in 1982-83.

  Postecoglou found it hard to seek the immediate positives, having watched Tottenham fall short and inadvertently damage rivals Arsenal's title hopes in the process.

  "We lost the game so I am disappointed," the Australian added, before responding to whether any pride could be taken. 

  "Not right now because we have lost. We will assess the season, still one more game to go, one more game against Sheffield United and we need to make sure we win.

  "I think wherever you finish is a fair reflection of where you are at."

  Tottenham will finish outside the top four for the fourth time in the last five seasons, after finishing in the Champions League spots in Mauricio Pochettino’s final four full campaigns in charge (2015-16 to 2018-19).

  Postecoglou acknowledged there is still work to do to catch up with England's perennial champions City.

  Asked how his side measure up to Guardiola's men, he said: Nothing earth-shattering that I didn't know before the game. We still have some work to do. We need to do some work to catch up."

• 'One more game, and we can change history' – Rodri knows Man City have one more step to take

  Manchester City know they cannot let complacency set in as they aim to make Premier League history, so says Rodri.

  City beat Tottenham 2-0 on Tuesday, taking a huge stride towards winning an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title.

  Erling Haaland scored twice, with his second – a calmly taken spot-kick in stoppage time – came after a string of fine stops from Stefan Ortega.

  City's stand-in goalkeeper replaced the injured Ederson just after the hour mark, and twice denied Dejan Kulusevski before making an exceptional save to prevent Son Heung-min scoring in a one-v-one.

  With one game left, City are two points above Arsenal, and Rodri knows the job must now be done against West Ham on Sunday.

  "It's unbelievable. For us, it gives us the chance to fight again in the last game," he told Sky Sports.

  "We know it's one more game, but you saw the character of the team, of course it wasn't our best performance, but we came here to win – that's what we do. It's the mentality of these guys, the substitutions, Stefan saved us, Jeremy was unbelievable, every player that came in was exceptional.

  "This is football. We have the best striker in the world and today he made the difference, but today, Stefan was simply incredible. We were 1-0 up and he made three outstanding saves. I have no words. We want to make history again, but we have one more to come.

  "We have the experience from against Aston Villa [in 2022]. We know it's not done. We know it's going to be tough, but if we do it, we can change history."

  Kyle Walker echoed the sentiment.

  "We know it's not done, but we've taken it down to the last game, in front of our fans," he said. "You have to take each game as it comes."

  City are now unbeaten in 22 consecutive Premier League games (W18 D4), including all 18 in 2024 (W15 D3); however, the last two teams to make as long an unbeaten start to a calendar year have failed to go on to win the title in that same year (Liverpool in 2022 – second and Chelsea in 2008 – second).

  Pep Guardiola's team will sit top of the Premier League table heading into the final day of the season for the sixth time in the last seven seasons, having gone on to win the title in each of those previous campaigns.