Gatland was mocked up as a clown by the New Zealand press last week after a series of wrong calls left the Lions vulnerable in the first match.
The Lions were battered in the first Test of the Series and many were expecting a repeat outcome today.
But the Lions battled back – inspired by Mauro Itoje, Owen Farrell, Sean O’Brien, Taulupe Faletau and a substitute appearance from Courtney Laws – to tie up the series.
Farrell kicked the winner after a late try from Conor Murray with the All Blacks having to play the final 56 minutes with 14 men after Sonny Bill Williams was sent off for a shoulder charge.
And Gatland had a dig at the clown remarks in his post match interview.
“A pretty happy clown this week,” he said when asked how he felt.
“It’s great to tie the series up and we go to Auckland next week with a series to play for. Even without the red card we were the better team.
“The last 10 minutes, guys coming off their line and being aggressive impressed me. We gave away a few soft penalties but our control was pretty good.
“When we got the ball in their half we stressed them and we looked comfortably defensively.
“Normally when the All Black’s have those kind of stats they win by 20 or 30 points.
“I’m proud of the performance and we can look forward to next week. We saw what happened in Chicago and then Dublin so we know what to expect.
“We need to fix the soft penalties and look at being more accurate in our kicking game.”
Captain Sam Warburton has told his side to focus on the final Test and insists the job is only half done.
“This is only half the job done,” he said.
“I will be happy next week when we bring the series home.
“It is great that we have levelled it 1-1 but we have to win the Test series. We gave away far too many penalties in the second half – obviously delighted that we have won but we have got to remember it was against 14-men.
“We have got to up it again next week. We have an epic battle on our hands.”
New Zealand coach Steve Hansen was gracious in defeat and refused to point to the sending off as the reason, insisting the Lions deserved victory.
“He made the call so whether he got it right or wrong is irrelevant. You’ve got to go with what he decides,” Hansen said.
“[The red card] is not the issue. Don’t make the issue about the tackle.
“What we should be doing from this point on is looking at how we played and how they played. The Lions deserved to win.
“I’m happy for them and obviously we’re a bit disappointed but I’m very proud of our guys.”
