Wasteful Tottenham forced to settle for draw with Frankfurt.

Emily Salley, BBC Sport journalist.

Tottenham Hotspur were foiled by a goalkeeping masterclass from Kaua Santos in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Brazilian produced a string of inspired saves at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to deny Ange Postecoglou’s home side.

Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike showed why he has caught the attention of several Premier League clubs when he put the visitors ahead inside six minutes with a superb low strike.

However, Spurs responded well and took control before Pedro Porro equalised with a bold backheel flick.

Tottenham poured forward with intensity after the interval and would have scored had it not been for the woodwork and three big saves from Kaua Santos.

In a frantic few minutes, Lucas Bergvall and Rodrigo Bentancur both rattled the crossbar, while Son Heung-min and James Maddison each had a curling effort stopped by the Frankfurt keeper.

Deep into stoppage time, Santos was the hero for Frankfurt again with a fine fingertip save from Micky van de Ven’s bouncing header.

Sitting 14th in the Premier League and out of both domestic cups, the Europa League is Tottenham’s only remaining chance of silverware success this season.

Head coach Postecoglou, who is looking to maintain his record of “always winning” trophies in his second season, will need a strong showing from his side when they travel to face Frankfurt in the second leg on 17 April.

Tottenham entertain but miss out on reward

This has been a disappointing season for Spurs and Postecoglou’s future at the club may hinge on this competition, if his fate has not already been decided.

In his pre-match news conference, the under-pressure Australian boss said he was aware that even ending this term with a European triumph may not be enough to convince some fans that he is the right person for the job.

With Frankfurt’s spirited home support and a 58,000-capacity Waldstadion awaiting in the reverse fixture, a positive first-leg performance was a must for Spurs.

And, to an extent, they delivered. It was an entertaining showing from Postecoglou’s players, who did everything well after half-time apart from finding the back of the Frankfurt net.

The visitors’ opener arrived when Maddison lost possession in Eintracht’s half and, with Spurs’ defence out of position, Ellyes Skhiri threaded a brilliant ball to Ekitike.

Porro failed to close down the 22-year-old, who cut in from the left and darted towards the edge of the box before firing past Guglielmo Vicario into the far, bottom corner.

Maddison and Porro soon redeemed themselves at the other end, linking up for the equaliser as Maddison clipped the ball back for Porro, who guided it in with a wonderful flick of his heel.

Tottenham continued to rack up the chances after half-time, but they were unable to beat the crossbar or Santos, who has been filling in for Frankfurt’s injured first-choice goalkeeper Kevin Trapp for the past month.

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