Ange Postecoglou sparks Tottenham civil war after gesture to fans during Chelsea meltdown

risked the fury of the faithful once again with his actions during Thursday night's clash against Chelsea. Spurs had been trailing to their cross-city rivals when Pape Matar Sarr put the ball into the Chelsea net - a strike that sparked a passionate reaction from the Tottenham boss.

The travelling Spurs fans cooped in the corner of Stamford Bridge had blasted Postecoglou's decision to bring Sarr off the bench when the midfielder replaced Lucas Bergvall in the second half. Reacting to the substitution, the Spurs faithful were heard chanting "You don't know what you're doing" in the direction of Postecoglou.

Clearly affected by the show of dissent from the Tottenham fans, when Sarr found the back of the net from range, Postecoglou turned to the away end with his hand cupped to his ear, as if to say, "You're not complaining now". However, it was the Australian who was left with egg on his face after referee Craig Pawson disallowed the goal following a lengthy VAR review and a trip to the pitchside monitor.

Following the full-time whistle at Stamford Bridge, Postecoglou urged the players to head over to the away end, but the manager himself was spotted keeping a distance from the disgruntled supporters. The result means Spurs have now won just one of their previous six matches across all competitions and remain marooned in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

Postecoglou had recently claimed a section of the support had "lost a bit of faith" in his management, stating in an interview with Mark Schwarzer: "There's no doubt there's probably a large portion of Tottenham fans who have lost a bit of faith and belief in what we're doing.

"They were encouraged by what they saw last year but that certainly hasn't manifested itself this year. I still am really optimistic and bullish about the squad we've got. I think there will be enormous growth in them once we can navigate through this. Surviving tough times can be such a strong uniter of people."

It comes after a string of high-profile incidents involving Postecoglou and fans this season, with the former Celtic chief away to Bournemouth earlier in the campaign. When quizzed on the altercation at the time, he explained: "The fans were disappointed and rightly so. They gave us some direct feedback which we'll take on board."

When pushed on what the fans were saying to him at the time, Postecoglou responded: "It's not something to be said in here." The 59-year-old was again involved in a heated exchange with a supporter when Spurs lost away to Fulham last month.