Spurs 2-0 United - Mauricio's reaction
The manager pays tribute to a 'fantastic performance'
Wed 31 January 2018, 22:53|
Tottenham Hotspur
Mauricio Pochettino was delighted to take such a lightning-fast lead against Manchester United - and even more impressed with how the team managed the match after Christian Eriksen struck in little over 10 seconds at Wembley.
Christian made the perfect return from a recent illness by handing us the perfect start.
We kicked-off, Harry Kane flicked on Jan Vertonghen’s pass, Dele Alli’s shot was blocked and fell into the path of Christian following in play and the Dane made no mistake with his first touch, pinging home with his left foot from 12 yards.
The goal was timed at 10.5 seconds - the third fastest in Premier League history behind our own Ledley King (9.9 seconds v Bradford in 2001) and Alan Shearer (10.4 seconds for Newcastle v City, 2003).
It was also Christian's 50th goal for Spurs.
We didn’t let go from that moment. Tackles were won, possession regained seemingly every minute, we controlled passages of play and opened United up time and again – the final count of 22-6 efforts at goal in our favour told the story.
The second goal arrived on 28 minutes when Phil Jones turned Kieran Trippier’s cross into his own net.
At the other end, we defended resolutely against United’s array of talent and Hugo Lloris made saves when called upon – most notably to tip over from Romalu Lukaku in the second half.
"It was an amazing start and then fantastic how we managed the game," said Mauricio.
"The plan is always to try to be aggressive and go for the game from the beginning and show the opponent that we want to win.
"It will be good to show to the younger players in the Academy the belief of Christian to anticipate the action (for the goal). There is a lot to learn from this action.
"It was a fantastic performance. I'm so happy with the players.
"We were much better than them. We played against a very good team and that is why we are so happy.
"Now we need to keep going, to be consistent and stay focused because we have a lot of important games ahead."
This was the first of a key run of matches in all competitions including Liverpool and Arsenal in the Premier League, Juventus home and away in the Champions League Round of 16 and a replay against Newport in the FA Cup.
Next up, an intriguing match-up against Liverpool in the Premier League at Anfield on Sunday (4pm).
We played an amazing game and fully deserved that result
