Postecoglou's promise alive after win over league giants

Tottenham Hotspur celebrate victory over Manchester City.

Ange Postecoglou is one step closer to achieving his promise to win a trophy after his Spurs upset powerhouse Manchester City 2-1 in the Carabao Cup.

Tottenham put the eight-time champions on notice early in the match as Timo Werner capitalised on a Dejan Kulusevksi's solo break to put the ball in the back of the net.

Pape Matar Sarr followed in the 24th minute from outside the penalty area before Man City's Matheus Nunes hit back to narrow the margin to one at half time.

The nerves of the second half sunk in for Postecoglou as his team held onto their position in the knockout competition.

The result was a massive effort for the Australian manager, having witnessed his men fall to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Monday (AEDT).

It is the first time Spurs have defeated the English giants under Postecoglou's reign.

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But the suggestion that the elimination of Pep Guardiola's eight-time League Cup champions made his path to a trophy easier was one that Postecoglou denied.

"Are you suggesting the sides left are easy?" he laughed.

"There is always an opportunity if you keep winning but there are still some decent teams in there, we are only at the quarter final stage.

"What is important is that we are in it and as long as we stay in it we are a chance."

Postecoglou insisted the attitudes of his team have not been changing from game to game, stating "the same team" that was defeated by Crystal Palace returned three days later with the same drive.

"I'm not going to go for big steps forward or big steps back," Postecoglou said.

"We are a side that is growing, we are developing, I've seen progress but we will see stumbles along the way.

"In the same way, we don't lose our nerve after having a poor one on the weekend, tonight doesn't mean that we need to change our approach, we just need to keep working and believing in what we are trying to build."

The motivation and success of Postecoglou at the helm of Tottenham was one Guardiola could not ignore, saying the club "has been tough since Ange has been manager".

"They are so, so aggressive, dynamic - physicality, good patterns. This is a really good team, it's an incredible test for us," he continued.

"I don't like to lose but this competition is a little bit different. It was a good game and I thought we played well."

Things weren't all pleasant for Postecoglou following the victory with concern on the state of Dutch defender Micky van de Ven.

The 23-year-old appeared to have suffered a hamstring injury in a challenge against Savinho and was forced to exit the field after 14 minutes of play.

Tottenham have been drawn Manchester United in the quarter finals, scheduled to take place in December.