Gonzalo is grateful to get among the goals
Gonzalo Higuain opened his Chelsea account with a double against Huddersfield Town yesterday. Eden Hazard also hit a brace in the five-goal romp.
tottenham hotspur 1 Son (83) newcastle united 0
Mauricio Pochettino felt his Tottenham side were worthy of their late winner against Newcastle before insisting he will not be cheering on rivals Arsenal when they meet fellow title hopefuls Manchester City today.
Son Heung-min struck with seven minutes remaining to secure a hard-fought 1-0 win for Spurs, who took full advantage of their Saturday kick-off to move up to second in the Premier League above City and just two points behind leaders Liverpool.
Tottenham toiled against a well-drilled Newcastle and had hit the crossbar through Erik Lamela and seen two Christian Eriksen efforts cleared off the line before Son’s late winner.
It followed a similar pattern to the midweek victory over Watford, where Fernando Llorente was the man to provide the late heroics, and Pochettino believes his side did enough to warrant all three points once more.
“I think we fully deserved the victory,” he said. “We dominated the game, we had the control. We were very patient.
“Newcastle were a very well organised team who played deep and didn’t give us much space, but I thought the positional game was good and we created some chances in the first half.
“Their belief increased and in the second half we conceded some chances, but I think our belief was also fantastic. At the end Son scored and the players deserve a lot of praise for a lot of effort.
“It was another massive effort from the squad and the team, I am more than happy, more than pleased.
“It is a fantastic result for us to be in a fantastic position in the table and I can feel very happy and very proud.”
While victory for Unai Emery’s Gunners at the Etihad Stadium today would mean Spurs remain above City in the table, Pochettino does not intend to cheer on Tottenham’s fierce local rivals as he sits down to watch the match.
“No. Why? Never,” Pochettino replied when asked if he would be cheering on Arsenal. “I want to watch the game, but I am not going to be part of one side or another.” Spurs had made hard work of league victories over Fulham and Watford, again winning with goals in the last 10 minutes, so were keen to get on the front foot.
They had the perfect chance to gain the early advantage, but Lucas Moura produced a shocking miss in the 16th minute.
He was left in acres of space by a failed Newcastle offside trap and was found perfectly by Lamela’s cross, but the Brazilian planted a free header from seven yards out wide of the target.
The hosts continued to press and came within inches of taking the lead eight minutes later as Lamela met Jan Vertonghen’s cross, but his header crashed into the upright.
The pattern of Spurs attack versus Newcastle defence was set in and Moussa Sissoko tested Martin Dubravka with a low shot, with Davinson Sanchez being muscled off the ball from the rebound with the goal gaping.
When Newcastle did venture forward they were presented with good opportunities and they almost took the lead early in the second half.
Salomon Rondon found space and met Deandre Yedlin’s cross, but his header hit the same upright that Lamela found, while Hugo Lloris was also forced into a good diving save from Ayoze Perez.
Either side of those two chances, though, Newcastle were reliant on a brilliant piece of defending from Fabian Schar to keep his side level. Eriksen diverted a corner goalwards with a cute flick, but Schar acrobatically cleared off the line with millimetres to spare.
It looked like it was not going to be Tottenham’s day as Llorente sent a free header over the bar, but Pochettino’s men have the habit of rescuing themselves late on this season and again pulled it out of the bag.
Llorente laid the ball off to Son, who was delighted to see his low shot squirm under Dubravka’s body for his 10th Premier League goal of the season.
Son provided the match-winning moment as his low strike somehow evaded Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka with less than seven minutes remaining. Newcastle went into the game having shocked Manchester City with a 2-1 victory in midweek and manager Rafael Benitez was pleased with his team’s performance.
“I have to give credit to my players for the great effort they made,” the Spaniard said.
“The way they were fighting for each ball, we have to improve a bit on the ball…credit to this group of players because they work so hard that maybe they deserve something more.”