Sat 02 March 2019, 15:51
Tottenham HotspurMauricio Pochettino felt we deserved to win but pointed to the circumstances of the draw in another eventful north London derby as positive for the team moving into another huge game against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Hugo Lloris saved a late penalty from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – his second spot-kick save in a row – to secure the point, halt a run of two straight defeats in the Premier League and maintain our four-point gap in third from the Gunners.
Aaron Ramsey opened the scoring for Arsenal on 16 minutes but we responded well, Harry Kane had a goal disallowed and Bernd Leno somehow kept out Christian Eriksen and Moussa Sissoko just before the break.
We continued to push in the second half, both teams had chances and we levelled on 74 minutes when Harry was barged over in the box and he slotted home from the spot.
That signalled a wave of belief through Wembley for us to push for a winner but it could have gone the other way as Aubameyang went down in the box and took the penalty himself, only for Hugo to palm away to his right and then Jan Vertonghen somehow cleared the follow-up from under the crossbar.
It was so important after two defeats to keep our confidence and to be strong. Not only the performance, the point also helps us to keep our belief and build our confidence
“We showed great character,” said Mauricio. “We deserved the victory but the circumstances at the end make this point even more important to build our confidence and to be sure to arrive in a good condition against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.
“It was so difficult to concede in the way we conceded after 15 minutes. That was so disappointing but it was important to keep fighting and working hard to bounce back in the game.
“At the end you have to look at all of the circumstances, the circumstances were difficult and a massive save from Hugo helped us get a point to build a positive run again.
“It was so important after two defeats to keep our confidence and to be strong. Not only the performance, the point also helps us to keep our belief and build our confidence for the future.”
Moussa delivered another impressive performance and Mauricio added: “He was very good. He’s doing a fantastic job. I’m so happy for him, he’s so professional and he needs to keep going in this way.”
