to show his quality. He won’t worry what people are saying about him.”
Asked if Alli had deserved a penalty, the 45-year-old Pochettino then said: “For me, the action of Hennessey on Ben Davies was a clear penalty.
“We deserved the victory. Late but, in the end, we fully deserved the game. It wasn’t easy to play here against a team who are difficult to break down, but the win was important.
“Harry (Kane) missed the first few chances but in the end his character made him keep pushing, keep trying, and achieve what he wanted.
“All the top players can miss chances. But what makes this type of player a top player is that, the moment after they miss, they forget about it and try and create or take another. The important thing with the team is we are more mature; we never give up.”
Palace manager Roy Hodgson had given both Alli and Kane their England debuts. He also defended Alli in response PARIS ST GERMAIN to pre-match questions surrounding his growing reputation for diving.
Defeat means only goal difference is keeping his team above the bottom three, but 70-year-old Hodgson said of Alli: “He only had the option to go down. The way our defenders defend the situation, he had to go down to avoid them. I don’t think he was looking for a penalty.
“(The crowd getting agitated is) what happens when all the talk in the massed media is about players diving: the public jump on the bandwagon to get as much advantage as they can.”
Hodgson, who remains without 12 injured senior players, handed a debut to 20-year-old Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and he said: “He coped with it extremely well. We wouldn’t have put him in if we didn’t think he was capable, but it was a big ask.
“After seven games we were seven or eight points adrift (of safety). At least now we’re level. If we get the players back who are unfit, who knows?” – The Independent
Tottenham’s Dele Alli goes to ground after a challenge by Crystal Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey during Sunday’s English Premier League match at Selhurst Park. Tottenham won 1-0. – REUTERSPIX table clash, although both sides will be in Liga action during the week.Valencia withstood a late wave of Real Sociedad pressure to maintain their push for Champions League qualification by holding onto fourth spot in the standings.Santi Mina headed Valencia in front after 34 minutes and the striker restored their advantage from close range in the 68th after Spain international Mikel Oyarzabal had levelled earlier in the second half for troubled Real Sociedad, who are 14th in the standings and exited the Europa League on Thursday.“We played a good first half and a poor second half and we got a victory which is very important but which we perhaps didn’t deserve,” said Valencia coach Marcelino. performance at the Parc des Princes in an ill-tempered game in which the hosts got six yellow cards and the visitors five.PSG finished with 10 men after Neymar was carried off with a suspected ankle injury eight minutes from time after coach Unai Emery had already made his three replacements.Marseille are third on 55 points, two behind second-placed Monaco who were held to a 3-3 draw at Toulouse on Saturday.PSG coach Unai Emery remains optimistic that Neymar will be fit to face Real Madrid in their do-or-die Champions League clash next week.“The first examination in the locker room revealed that it was a twist to the ankle. Now we will do a medical examination to find out what this twist is,” said Emery, whose team face Real at home on March 6 in the Champions League last 16 where they need to overturn a 3-1 deficit.“We will wait for the examination, we will be optimistic. If I had to say today (whether or not he will face Real) I would rather say yes to being optimistic.”PSG skipper Thiago Silva told “Neymar already had a swollen ankle. I’m not a doctor, but I don’t think he’ll be available on Wednesday (when PSG face Marseille again in the French Cup). He has to rest.”