Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Pochettino hails ‘near-perfect’ display by Spurs
MAURICIO Pochettino hailed a “nearperfect” performance after Tottenham underlined their title credentials by blowing away Manchester City.
Spurs were convincing winners at White Hart Lane as an Aleksandar Kolarov own goal and Dele Alli’s crisp finish secured a 2-0 victory.
City were fortunate to escape a more emphatic scoreline as Erik Lamela missed a second half penalty on an afternoon when Pochettino’s men were dominant all over the pitch.
The victory ends City’s perfect start in the Premier League under Pep Guardiola and moves Spurs to within one point of their opponents at the top of the table.
“I feel very happy and very pleased — the performance was nearly perfect,” said Pochettino.
“To play a great team like Manchester City you need to do a fantastic job and for that I’m very proud of the performance and the work that our players showed.”
City were harried as they attempted to play their passing game and they missed the incisiveness of the injured Kevin De Bruyne as the Spurs defence did a superb job of coping with Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling.
“They were better,” said Guardiola.
“They were the better team — that can sometimes happen.
“We play against a team who have had the same trainer for the last two or three years and last season were fighting until the end to win the Premier League. “They have players with talent. “We know how aggressive they are home and away — but especially at home.”