Sissoko suffered concussion during Tottenham’s 2-1 success at Middlesbrough in the Premier League on Saturday and appears unlikely to make the trip to Russian Federation.
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“The first half was great and we should have scored more than two”, Pochettino told Sky Sports.
Son Heung-min believes Tottenham Hotspur fans are finally starting to see the best of him after striking twice at Middlesbrough to stretch Spurs’ Premier League winning streak to three straight games.
Dele Alli should have got on the scoresheet before halftime when Christian Eriksen pulled the ball back inside the box and the Tottenham midfielder, normally so sure in front of goal, side-footed well over the bar.
“We have one week now to decide which type of team we are – if we want to be the first half team we will have problems, but if we decide to be the team who played in the second half we will win games so it is in our hands”.
Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka questioned the attitude of his players after watching them slide to their third consecutive top-flight defeat.
They look equipped to sustain their challenge as they wasted no time stamping their authority on the game.
‘I was a bit shocked, ‘ Son admitted after the victory.
With Calum Chambers surprisingly called up in place of Daniel Ayala, Middlesbrough’s back four allowed Son to glide away from two challenges in the seventh minute and steered in a left-foot shot that Valdes should have stopped.
With Tuesday’s Champions League tie at CSKA Moscow looming, Tottenham appeared content to cruise through the remaining 45 minutes until Gibson reduced the lead when he rose above Sissoko and headed Stewart Downing’s cross inside the far post.
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But the nearest they came to an equaliser was a header by another substitute, Jordan Rhodes, that was comfortably collected by Hugo Lloris.
