Mauricio Pochettino has admitted that Tottenham Hotspur did not set a good example against Chelsea last night, but insists his team remained respectful of their opponents throughout.
Spurs’ Premier League title hopes finally came to an end at Stamford Bridge as a fiery 2-2 draw ensured that Leicester City are now seven points clear at the top of the table with just two games to play.
As tempers threatened to boil over, Tottenham became the first team in Premier League history to receive nine yellow cards in a single game, and Pochettino does not believe his side set a good example of how to act in pressurised situations.
“Maybe we didn’t set a good example, but it’s a normal emotion, fighting on the pitch,” the Argentine said post-match.
“I was involved in all of it. I tried to be calm. But it was derby, we were fighting for the title and Chelsea fighting to win the game, but I think they make us feel very proud, how Chelsea took the game and showed us respect.
“It’s not personal, we respect them. We have full respect for them. It’s football, we are men, they are men, we need to show we are strong.”
Spurs have been so entertaining to watch this season and it showed in the first half at Stamford Bridge as Harry Kane and Son Heung-min put them in a commanding lead.
However, goals from Gary Cahill and Eden Hazard pegged them back and what followed was absolute mayhem with Eric Dier picking up a booking for a rough challenge on the aforementioned Belgian while Erik Lamela appeared to stamp on Cesc Fabregas’ hand and Mousa Dembele looked to have gouged Diego Costa’s eye in a pitch-side brawl.
On the Dembele incident, Pochettino said: “I heard but I didn’t see it. We can see in every game in the last few days a lot of things happen. It’s the end of the season, the emotion, we are human. We need to see the video. On the touchline is hard to observe the situations.”
The FA are now likely to take a look at a lot of footage from the game, with Dembele the most likely Spurs player to receive a ban.
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