We got lucky, Poch admits

MAURICIO POCHETTINO admitted Spurs were lucky to avoid losing to Wycombe after seeing his side score twice in the dying minutes of this seven-goal thriller.

It took Son Heung-min’s winner in the seventh minute of stoppage time to see off Gareth Ainsworth’s side, who led twice.

‘We were a bit lucky,’ Pochettino said. ‘Full credit to Wycombe, how they played the first half, they were better than us. If you are in the squad of Tottenham, if you cannot play this type of game, then we have a problem, but full credit to Wycombe. Maybe that is the beauty of the FA Cup. This is the magic of the FA Cup.’

With Wycombe lying sixth in League Two, Pochettino denied that his side took the tie for granted at White Hart Lane.

‘We never underestimated our opponent. They just played better than us.

‘It was difficult for me. From day one, when I arrived three years ago in England. They said, “Oh the FA Cup is magic. The beauty of the FA Cup…” Now I realise this is a special competition.

‘It is the most special competition in the world because you cannot replicate in Spain or France or Italy the same passion, the same atmosphere on the pitch.

‘The Wycombe players come from League Two and they are exciting and they believe they can beat us here. That is the important thing that the FA Cup creates, that feeling. It is fantastic. The beauty of the FA Cup.’

Wycombe boss Ainsworth will disagree, however, having seen his side lead 2-0 at half-time but end up losing 4-3.

‘This game is cruel. They’ve done the whole town proud, they’ve done me proud, they’ve done themselves proud.

‘I take it as a huge compliment that Pochettino says they were lucky. Maybe they were lucky with a few extra seconds added, that was about it,’ he said.