Pochettino: Spurs capable of ‘big things’
Tottenham outplayed Chelsea to inflict the Blues’ first Premier League 3-1 defeat of the season which shows they are capable of “big things”, says Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Pochettino’s men displayed a terrific performance to move above their opponents in the table to third, five points behind unbeaten leaders Manchester City, while Chelsea drop down to fourth.
Spurs deservedly scored two goals in the first 16 minutes through midfielder Dele Alli’s flicked header from Christian Eriksen’s cross, and Harry Kane firing in a drive from long range.
“There’s no need for me to talk too much. I am so happy, so pleased,” Pochettino told Match of the Day.
“I don’t need to analyse too much. All credit to the players because they were fantastic.
“The staff are so happy managing this group of players. We need to be humble and recognise playing like this, we can do big things.
“Our challenge is to keep going and be consistent. That’s our challenge for the rest of the season.”
Son Heung-min had struck straight at goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga when through on goal, and saw a volley pushed away before scoring a brilliant goal in the second half.
The South Korean forward picked the ball up on the halfway line, outpaced Jorginho and darted past David Luiz before rolling a cool finish into the net.
Son told Match of the Day: “It’s amazing. Our performance was very good and we deserved to win. It’s an unbelievable night.
“We said it before - the first five minutes are so important. We played direct and scored an early goal. “Afterwards we created a lot of chances. I need to be more clinical.”
Chelsea did manage to pull a goal back with five minutes remaining through substitute Olivier Giroud’s powerful header low into the corner.
LACK OF HEART: MOURINHO TELLS PLAYERS
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has accused his players of not showing “enough heart” after they limped to a goalless draw at home to Crystal Palace.
At the start of what Mourinho described as a key run of eight league games between now and the end of 2018, United produced an insipid display against opponents who are fighting to stay out of the relegation zone.
“You must play with brain and also with heart and I think not enough heart,” he said.
“We didn’t have that intensity that in my opinion is basically related with your brain, with your heart. There are games that are special games and not just one more, and this was a special game.
“It was the first of eight Premier League games until the end of December and a game we needed to win, and it was not enough from the heart.”
United have won just three of their nine games at Old Trafford this season.
Romelu Lukaku had an attempt ruled out for offside and another kept out by Wayne Hennessey, who also produced smart saves to deny Jesse Lingard.
But Palace, without a win in their previous seven league games and one point above the bottom three, created several chances as they tried to secure a first league win at Old Trafford since 1989.
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