Spurs 5-2 Saints - Mauricio's reaction

Mauricio Pochettino led the tributes to the team and record-breaker Harry Kane after a performance he ‘enjoyed a lot’ as we toppled Southampton 5-2 on Boxing Day.

We produced a Christmas treat for fans with some scintillating play especially in the first hour as we charged into a 4-0 lead in this Premier League encounter at Wembley Stadium, connected by EE.

Harry opened the scoring on 22 minutes and added the second on 39. Dele Alli’s inch-perfect shot made it 3-0 on 49 minutes and Heung-Min Son added number four on the break two minutes later. Harry completed his second hat-trick in three days on 67 with Southampton’s replies making it 4-1 and 5-2.

“The first half was fantastic,” said Mauricio. “We played so well. In the second half after it went to 4-0 we started to drop a little in our focus and allowed them to score and then it was so open, a lot of transitions, it should have finished 7-4! It was a fantastic game. I enjoyed it a lot.”

All eyes were on Harry as he went into the match level with Alan Shearer in terms of goals in a calendar year in the Premier League. He didn’t just beat it with his treble - ending on 39 to Shearer’s 36 - but went on to topple Lionel Messi as the top scorer for club and country in 2017 across the European leagues (56 to Messi’s 54) and notably into the Club’s all-time top 10 goalscorers, ahead of Robbie Keane. Harry is now on 123 Spurs goals.

"I'm happy with the three points and with Harry Kane's achievement, I want to congratulate him,” added Mauricio.

“It's a massive achievement to break the Premier League record of Alan Shearer and to score more goals for the team and country than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is amazing.”

2017: ⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽ #THFC#COYS#PremierLeague#Englandpic.twitter.com/4fuvKOjunV

— Harry Kane (@HKane) December 26, 2017

Most importantly, however, is that this win made it four wins out of five in the Premier League with particularly impressive performances against Stoke (5-1), Burnley (3-0) and now Southampton.

“Yes, we’re in good form and that’s most important,” said Mauricio. “Now it’s about keeping going and preparing for Swansea to start the year in a good way. We need to keep the momentum and it’s good, we’re in a position where we can fight for big things.”