Arsenal 1-1 Spurs - Mauricio's verdict

Mauricio Pochettino hailed a 'fantastic performance' as we secured a draw at the Emirates on Saturday.

Nacer Chadli fired us into the lead after good work from Christan Eriksen and Erik Lamela on 56 minutes but Arsenal put us under pressure at 1-0 and levelled through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on 74 minutes.

Hugo Lloris made a fantastic save to deny Per Mertesacker soon after the equaliser and we defended admirably, led by skipper Younes Kaboul and Jan Vertonghen in central defence.

“The players did well with the strategy we prepared and congratulations to them, they were very compact, aggressive and showed the personality to go forward as well,” said Mauricio, who handed Ryan Mason a Premier League debut on the biggest domestic stage, the young midfielder responding superbly.

“Our attitude and our energy was good from the first moment on the pitch. This is important to carry on now. I’m looking forward.

“Every player did well, all of them. This is important. We showed good energy, good attitude and today was a very good game for us to start to build and carry on our philosophy.”

It was Mauricio’s first North London derby. Did he enjoy it? “I enjoyed it, I suffered, I worked a lot and now I’m very tired!”