LONDON — Ange Postecoglou said that he was frustrated with his team’s “inability to stay disciplined” after Spurs completed a second half comeback to beat Brentford 3-2 in a bad-tempered match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday.

Spurs were forced to come back from a goal down after Neal Maupay put the visitors in front, but it was the Brentford forward’s imitation of James Maddison’s darts throwing celebration that Postecoglou’s players seemed to take exception to.

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“I think we started the game well and started with a good intensity and good tempo. Obviously, they scored and then we lost our way,” Postecgolou said.

“We just lost focus. I was a bit frustrated with our inability to stay disciplined and it was just too many stop-starts and it kind of plays into their hands, [there were] a lot of set pieces and throw ins. We spent more time talking to the referee than playing the game and I was just be frustrated that we lost real clear focus.”

Maddison was seen confronting Maupay as the former Everton forward made his way back to his own half in preparation for the game to restart.

Asked whether Maupay’s celebration had fired up his team Postecoglou said: “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 of pushing people around. If you’re that brave about things then my players and their players can 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.”

Asked whether he understood Spurs’ anger at Maupay’s conduct, Brentford head coach Thomas Frank said: “If that is what is irritating them then they have a problem, I must say.”

Spurs scored two goals, 73 seconds apart, in the opening minutes of the second half to take the lead before Richarlison added a third with his seventh goal in as many Premier League matches.

Brentford were given a way back into the contest in bizarre fashion when Spurs left-back Destiny Udogie attempted a pass back to goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, but instead gave the ball straight to Ivan Toney who made no mistake with his finish.

“I mean look, mistakes will happen mate,” Postecoglou said. “He’s a young man. He worked hard and he was instrumental in the first goal I think driving through, obviously he scored, but just his drive and he continues to present himself.

“I’ve got no issues with Destiny. I thought again he was good and he made a mistake, but you know what? I’ve made more mistakes than that today, let alone in a career.”

Spurs held on after Toney’s goal to earn the three points that saw them rise to fourth place in the Premier League, but Postecoglou was keen to play down the significance of his team’s position in the table with 16 games still to play this season.

“It doesn’t make a difference,” the Australian coach said. “I think we’ve been there and thereabouts the whole season, so it’s nothing different for us. I think there’s still a lot of growth in this team. Nights like tonight, nights like Friday night just shows me that we’ve still got a long way to go and within that context, the fact that this team still produces and gets results.

“I think it’s a credit to them but we need to keep improving a whole lot of areas.”