Antonio’s verdict on ‘massive win’ against Burnley
Sun 15 May 2022, 16:15|
Tottenham Hotspur
Antonio Conte highlighted the maturity of the players after a securing a crucial 1-0 win against Burnley in our final home match of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign on Sunday.
Harry Kane’s first half penalty proved enough to lift us above Arsenal back into fourth place. Arsenal now face Newcastle at St James’ Park on Monday evening. We then travel to Norwich on the season’s final day next Sunday, Arsenal host Everton.
“It’s a massive win, another must-win game for us, only one result - to get three points, to put pressure onto Arsenal,” Antonio told Spurs TV afterwards. “Now, in this moment, we’re two points up. For sure, the situation is still in their hands because they have two games to play, but you know very well in England, it’s not simple to win.”
This team is now a strong team. There are moments when you have to manage and you know you can suffer, but they are ready to face and manage many parts of the game. This is the big improvement we made
Antonio said Burnley ‘tested our nerves’ in front of another bumper crowd - 61,729 - at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The visitors, back in the relegation zone after this result and Leeds’ late draw against Brighton, set up to sit deep and the plan worked in the first half, until Ashley Barnes handled Davinson Sanchez’s pass and Kevin Friend awarded a penalty after a VAR review. Step up Harry Kane - no mistake.
Burnley switched to a 4-4-2 in the second half and caused us more problems - Barnes struck the post – but at the other end, Nick Pope kept them in it with two reaction saves from Heung-Min Son. We defended our box stoutly despite an increased aerial threat late on and saw the game out for a priceless clean sheet and three points.
“Burnley came here to play a defensive game, well-organised, no spaces for us,” added Antonio. “Despite this, I have seen the maturity of my team today. I’m delighted to see the improvement of these players. Maybe, three months ago, in this type of game, we’d risk losing. Instead, our heads were cold, and we faced the game in the right way.
“For sure, if we scored one more goal, we’d be more relaxed in the last 10, 15 minutes, and we had chances to improve the final result, but the most important thing was to keep the clean sheet, to get the three points and to finish in this way.
“Until the end (of the season) we are in this race (for fourth place), and that’s a big achievement. I have to thank the players because they showed me from the first day great commitment, great attitude, great behaviour and they decided to improve and become strong."
