Spurs 3-1 Fulham - Mauricio's verdict

Mauricio Pochettino gave a nod to the impact of our substitutes after our 3-1 win against Fulham on Saturday.

The arrival of Mousa Dembele off the bench for Davinson Sanchez with the scoreline at 1-1 on 63 minutes helped us regain control of the Premier League clash at Wembley.

Kieran Trippier curled home a wonderful free-kick on 74 minutes for 2-1 before Erik Lamela, off the bench on 74 minutes, set up Harry Kane to secure victory on 79.

“It’s true, sometimes substitutions work, sometimes they don’t,” reflected Mauricio.

“Always, when you change and move the team with substitutions, you are trying to find the best way to play football and to provide the team with more energy.

“It was a moment where we needed the impact of the substitutions to help the team and I’m so happy because the players who are on the bench need to be focused to help the team when the team needs them.”

We had control of the first half, rewarded when Lucas Moura pinged home his first Premier League goal for the lead two minutes before half-time.

Fulham had their best spell at the start of the second half and equalised when Aleksandar Mitrovic nodded home from close range.

Dembele’s arrival got us back in possession and Trippier produced arguably an even better free-kick than the one he curled home for England against Croatia in the World Cup semi-final to crucially get our noses in front again.

Kane, who had a goal disallowed and then struck the crossbar, finally scored a Premier League goal in August to seal it after Lamela’s burst forward and pinpoint pass 11 minutes from time.

“Winning games is so important, six points is massive for us with all the circumstances and I congratulate the players for a great performance,” added Mauricio. “The Premier League is a tough competition and I’m very happy with the performance.

"I told you in the past that we need to provide all the players with the opportunity to play if they deserve it and all need to be part of that project."