PALACE 0 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1

BY AYODELE ODUMADE AT SELHURST PARK

AA relieved Mauricio Pochettino praised his Tottenham Hotspur side for keeping the title race alive following their 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park which reduced Chelsea’s lead at the top to four points. This followed their set back of being knocked out of the FA Cup by the league leaders and their title rivals Chelsea.  He said: ” It was important to us. We showed great character and personality after a disappointing weekend. We played much better in the second half. We found a way to move the ball quicker.  It was a great opportunity to show we are focused on us.  We are showing that we learnt a lot from last season. That is so important as after last season it was a massive challenge to improve again. The team are showing we are ready this season and next season we will be even better. I am so happy. The trust, the belief and confidence are there. As a team we are showing great maturity.”

Although Spurs did not look anything like their recent form in the league, it was understandable after Saturday.  The only goal was scored with 12 minutes to go by Christian Eriksen, who tried his luck from distance and managed to find the target.  This was Spurs 8^th league win a row as they continue to pursue Chelsea.

Spurs next game is a North London Derby at home against their fiercest rivals Arsenal on Sunday. A win in this game would mean that Spurs would finish above Arsenal for the league for the first time in 22 seasons. However Pochettino is looking at the bigger picture. He said: “Our aim is not to finish above Arsenal but to reduce the gap to Chelsea. If you want to win trophies your mentality must be bigger.”

Sam Allardyce had no complaints after this loss due to the gruelling schedule his team has faced and a lack of recovery time. He said:” I thought the performance was better than Sunday. There was not enough recovery time. Sakho has been terrific for us and the last place we wanted an injury was in central defence. We are extremely fortunate we have many central defenders as Martin Kelly can come in. Sakho’s injury looks like a hyper extension of the knee.”