Mauricio Pochettino said that Tottenham ‘did not manage the ball properly’ as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat to West Ham this afternoon.
With a place in the top four not yet secure, and facing a club who hadn’t won on the road in four months, Spurs went into this game as strong favourites.
However, a fine second-half strike from Michail Antonio proved to be the difference between the two sides, with the North London club suffering their first defeat at their new £1 billion home.
Speaking after the game, Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino admitted that his side didn’t look after the ball well enough, particularly in the second half, with West Ham frequently looking threatening on the counter-attack.
“I think we did not manage the ball properly,” he told Sky Sports.
“It was a difficult game but in the second half we conceded a lot of space for them to counter-attack. But we need to look forward. We cannot stop to think about what we did not do today.
“We can’t dominate like against Brighton, first half was good but we lost the ball too easily in the second half. We arrived for this game in a different condition and that was an important factor in the second half. It was really tough today.
The result leaves Spurs three points ahead of Chelsea, four points clear of Arsenal and six in front of Manchester United, who all play tomorrow, with United hosting Chelsea at Old Trafford. Speaking about what today’s defeat means for their hopes of finishing in the top four, Pochettino said:
“It is a fight, it is a race, with two games to play. We knew that before.”
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