Spurs travelled to West Ham on Wednesday night knowing a victory would have taken them above Leicester, b ut Michail Antonio’s first-half strike secured a 1-0 victory for the Hammers and ended Tottenham’s six-game winning run.
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Tottenham now head into a potentially crucial North London derby against Arsenal this weekend as the title race enters its home stretch, and Pochettino is adamant that his side will be ready for it.
“We didn’t start well”.
“But to outplay them and win against them without being lucky requires a great performance, and we were simply magnificent and I congratulate the players”.
“We had more freedom in the second half but if you don’t score it’s hard to get the points”. It was hard and we were poor.
Spurs, who needed a win to go top, were aiming for a seventh successive league victory for the first time in nearly 50 years but lost their first league match since mid-January. “But the way the players fought in the second half was fantastic”.
West Ham travel to Goodison Park to take on 11th-placed Everton in the league on Saturday.
The Hammers head to the Olympic Stadium next season but they will miss nights like this as their famous old ground was rocking.
But, after West Ham defender James Collins limped off to be replaced by Reece Oxford, the visitors were fortunate not to fall 2-0 down when Antonio spurned a chance to double his tally, firing over from Payet’s superb free-kick in the 66th minute.
Tottenham, having become the masters at coming from behind this season, had plenty of time to respond – but this time they could not find a way back.
They went closest to an equaliser when Kane’s close-range shot was blocked on the line after Adrian had parried Toby Alderweireld’s long-range effort straight into the striker’s path.
While Manchester United defeated Watford 1-0 to remain fifth but they move level on points with fourth-placed City who have a game in hand.
“We shall approach the rest of the season very confidently”, he added.
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“Spurs should be more happy with the result than us – it should have been more”.
