Sat 02 February 2019, 16:22
Tottenham HotspurMauricio Pochettino congratulated the players on a ‘massive effort’ as we struck late again to topple Newcastle on Saturday.
For the third time in succession in the Premier League - Fulham, Watford and now Newcastle - we dug deep to score with the clock having ticked into 80-plus minutes.
This time, it was 83 minutes when Heung-Min Son delivered the telling blow. Fernando Llorente chested the ball down to the South Korean who lost two Newcastle players with a little shimmy before drilling a shot that fizzed through Martin Dubravka.
We’d chipped away at Newcastle’s defensive wall all afternoon. Lucas headed wide, Erik Lamela hit the woodwork, Newcastle twice cleared off the line and Fernando headed wide when clear.
At the other end, Salomon Rondon headed against the post and Hugo Lloris saved full stretch from Ayoze Perez but with a shot count of 21-8 and over 70% possession, few could argue that the points went to the right home.
“First of all, congratulations to the players for their massive effort in that victory,” said Mauricio. “It was so tough, so difficult to break down Newcastle and it showed the belief of the team to get the result. The character we are showing is fantastic.
“We showed patience in our build-up to try to find the space. It’s about mentality and with the right mentality, all is possible.
“I was pleased in the way we approached the game, the patience and the late goal... the collective performance was good. The players deserve big credit for everything.
“The three points are massive for our objectives in the table and fully deserved. Now we need to be focused for the next game against Leicester (next Sunday, 10 February), another tough game.”
