Tottenham x UFC?! Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou makes bizarre MMA threat after bad-tempered victory over Brentford

Bees striker Neal Maupay riled up the home crowd and players when scoring the opener at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, mimicking James Maddison's iconic darts celebration much to the displeasure of the England international and his Spurs team-mates. That set the tone for what ended up being a feisty encounter in north London, and Postecoglou continued the fighting talk after the full-time whistle.

Asked about Maupay's actions giving his players any extra motivation, the Spurs boss replied: "I hope not because that’s exactly what I’m talking about. I’m not a fan of it, I don’t like the whole bravado, pushing people around. If you’re that brave about things, my players and their players, get into a UFC cage and I’ll see how brave they are. We’re out there to play football. And that’s what I want our guys to do, focus on playing football. And they shouldn’t get motivated by things that aren’t really that important to us. Like I said, we got sucked in first half. Second half was much better.”

Despite Postecoglou's wishes, Spurs forward Brennan Johnson admitted to getting frustrated by Brentford's behaviour before settling in the second period, as he told reporters post-match: "We expected what was going to come, for them to get set pieces and play a tough game and we fell for it in the first half. We were getting riled up by some of their players. Second half, we just had to take a deep breath and play our football. It was one of those games, the manager said it, once we score one, we will score two and three, those were his exact words. As soon as we scored that first goal so early, we had to keep that momentum going."

Johnson, Postecoglou and Spurs ended up having the last laugh at full-time, though, with the Welshman on target alongside Destiny Udogie and Richarlison in the second half. Ivan Toney bagged his second goal in as many games since returning from an eight-month suspension, but it only ended up being a consolation as Spurs held on for all three points.

The thrilling 3-2 victory puts Tottenham back in Champions League contention. Postecoglou's side leapfrog Aston Villa into fourth on goal difference, with their next challenge coming away at Everton on Saturday.