Mauricio Pochettino said that he would never be able to cheer for Arsenal, even though Tottenham’s title dream could be boosted if their north London rivals take points from Manchester City today.
Spurs beat Newcastle yesterday and moved into second place in the Premier League, above champions City and within four points of leaders Liverpool, who play at West Ham tomorrow.
‘No. Never. No,’ the Tottenham manager replied when he was asked if he might be supporting Arsenal when they play at the Etihad Stadium today.
‘I will watch the game at home and I won’t be on one side or another. I am going to accept the result whatever it is,’ Pochettino said.
Son Heung-min scored in the 83rd minute to give Spurs a 1-0 win at Wembley and get his side back into the title race.
‘We are there because we deserve to be there,’ said Pochettino.
‘We don’t need to convince ourselves of our capacity, our potential or our possibility to win. We always believe in ourselves. We are there because we believe in ourselves.
‘Then it’s if we are capable to fight until the end, to be close and fight until the end to go close to our opponent to be champions.
‘We will see what happens,’ Pochettino said.
The Spurs manager also took time to praise the fighting spirit of his team. ‘We fully deserved the victory,’ said Pochettino. ‘We dominate the game and had control. We were very patient.
‘Newcastle were very organised, playing so deep and when you don’t score and break this type of game, always it is going to be difficult in the second half because their belief increases.
‘But the belief was fantastic. Another massive effort from the squad, the team and I am more than pleased, more than happy.
‘It’s a fantastic result for us to be in a very good position in the table. I can feel very happy and proud.’
The result also saw Tottenham establish a Premier League record of 29 successive games without a draw. ‘It’s easy to praise the mentality of the team,’ said Pochettino. ‘In some parts of course we are showing great mentality. But in the end to win the games, sometimes you need some luck.
‘For me the most important thing is the team in a great level of belief, character and mentality.
‘We are again showing that we can win in any stadium, against any club. That is most important.’