Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Luck has nothing to do with Spurs’ run says Lloris
H UG O L lor i s h a s d i sm i ssed suggestions Tottenham’s recent form is a fluke.
Son Heung-min’s last-minute goal earned a thrilling 3-2 victory at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday.
A third straight win saw Jose Mourinho’s side climb to fifth – a position which could earn them a Champions League spot after Manchester City’s Europe ban for breaching Financial Fair Play rules.
Spurs beat City 2-0 earlier this month, with Lloris saving Ilkay Gundogan’s penalty and the visitors missing a string of chances, while Son’s 50th Premier League goal that saw off Villa came after a defensive error.
“I don’t think it’s about luck,” goalkeeper Lloris said. “If you look at some games earlier in the season, we were very unlucky. We know we can do much better.
“Especially at this period of the season, only the points matter. We had a difficult game. We have to give a lot of credit to Villa but we never gave up. We expected a tough game, it was a big battle played in difficult conditions with a lot of wind.
“There are a l ot of positive things, we still need to correct the negative ones but we have to be happy with the result.
“We gave too much possession away but away from home it’s never easy. They are playing for their safety, so we knew they’d start with a lot of energy.
“We conceded a goal not in the best moment but then we stayed strong.”
Toby Alderweireld’s own goal gave Villa the lead but the defender levelled in the first half.
Son’s first strike, when he followed up after Pepe Reina saved his penalty, put Spurs 2-1 up but Bjorn Engels’ header made it 2-2.