Spurs keep their title dream alive
Mauricio Pochettino said Tottenham Hotspur are now ready to win the Premier League after cutting Chelsea’s lead back to four points with a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace yesterday.
With only five games left and a harder run-in than Chelsea it still looks a tall order this season for Tottenham, who face north London rivals Arsenal at White Hart Lane on Monday, NZT.
Yet the way they persevered against an obdurate Palace side to grind out three crucial points it was hard to disagree with the Argentine manager, who has turned Tottenham’s young side into one consistently challenging near the top.
‘‘The team are now showing we are ready,’’ said Pochettino, whose side buckled at the death last year after chasing Leicester City. ‘‘We are ready this season to fight and, next season, we’ll be even better.
‘‘We are showing we learned a lot from last season as a team. That is so important because last season was a big challenge. To improve on that season, that was difficult.
‘‘Last season, the team were fantastic, playing well, and it was a massive challenge to improve again.’’
Christian Eriksen’s 78thminute winner — an unstoppable dipping low shot — earned Spurs a victory and silenced the doubters who suspected their FA Cup semifinal defeat by Chelsea would stop them in their tracks.
They were not at their best but have now won eight successive Premier League matches and have 74 points — a club record in the Premier League and will go into the derby with Arsenal still believing they can catch Chelsea.
At the very least Champions League qualification looks nailed on, as does finishing above Arsenal for the first time in 22 years, although Pochettino said that would not be uppermost in their mind in Sunday’s north London derby.
‘‘We are not thinking about being above Arsenal,’’ he said. ‘‘Our challenge now is to try and reduce the gap to Chelsea again and think about bigger things than only to be above Arsenal.
‘‘Now we have reduced the gap again to four points, but every vic- tory is not to send a message to Chelsea. After every victory, the most important thing for us is you build your confidence, trust and belief.
‘‘To win big trophies and achieve big things, your mentality must be bigger. You must think about bigger dreams. Big dreams. It’s important to have them.’’
Arsenal moved within four points of the Champions League places with a 1-0 victory over Leicester.
Nacho Monreal’s late shot flew in off Leicester defender Robert Huth in the 86th minute to settle the meeting of last season’s top two clubs.
Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal are four points behind fourth-place Manchester City with six games to go.
Middlesbrough sent Sunderland closer to relegation and helped its own faint hopes of survival with its first Premier League win in more than four months.
Marten de Roon put the ball through goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s legs after eight minutes to earn a 1-0 victory over last-place Sunderland, who haven’t won since December 17.