Spurs will not collapse — Poch
Tottenham put four past Bournemouth
LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur will not lose their cool like they did last season, manager Mauricio Pochettino pledged after his side overwhelmed Bournemouth to increase the heat on Premier League leaders Chelsea.
Spurs’ bid to pip Leicester City to the title last season came crashing down amid a flurry of bookings and suspensions following stormy draws against West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea.
But after watching his side defeat Bournemouth 4-0 at White Hart Lane on Saturday, Pochettino said his players had wised up.
“I think we’ve learnt a lot,” said the Argentine, whose team closed to within four points of Chelsea ahead of the leaders’ trip to Manchester United yesterday.
“There was a very bad period at the end of last season. We spent a lot of energy fighting against Leicester, but [also] against West Bromwich, against Chelsea, against the media, against the people.
“We fought against all and we spent a lot of energy. Now we’re focusing on fighting against our opponent when we play.
“We spend time and energy preparing ourselves to compete in the best way. It’s a big step for us.
“That was our challenge from the beginning of the season, to improve our mentality, our belief. I think you can see the group and the team improved a lot.”
Spurs took an iron grip on the game against Bournemouth with two goals in the first 19 minutes from Mousa Dembele and Son Heung-Min.
Harry Kane added a third early in the second half, his 20th goal of the league campaign, before substitute Vincent Janssen completed the scoring in stoppage time.
Spurs have won seven successive league games for the first time since 1967 and prevailed in 12 consecutive topflight home games for the first time in the club’s history.
Meanwhile Vincent Kompany marked his return to the Manchester City lineup with a rare goal as his side climbed to third in the Premier League with a 3-0 win at Southampton.
Pep Guardiola’s team were in control for long periods at St Mary’s, but it wasn’t until the 55th minute that City captain Kompany put them ahead with his first goal since August 2015.
Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero made sure of the three points with further goals in the 77th and 80th minutes respectively.