How did it feel? 'Relief!' - Eriksen on late heroics

We’ve been there before this season – and Christian Eriksen explained a little of the mentality required to keep going and finally break down a stubborn defensive unit like Brighton after another dramatic late winner on Tuesday night.

We had 78 per cent possession and 29 efforts at goal on the night but it took until the 29th of those efforts in the 88th minute to find the crucial goal.

And it was our great Dane who delivered again. Having prompted our attacking play all night – and whistled off six attempts himself – Christian finally beat Mat Ryan with a cracker into the corner from 25 yards to secure the 1-0 win and strengthen our position in third in the Premier League.

It’s the seventh time we’ve found a winner with the match clock on 80 minutes-plus – see below – and as Mauricio Pochettino explained afterwards, ‘you always believe in the next action that you are going to score’.

How did the goalscorer feel when the ball hit the net? “It was relief, yes, unbelievable,” said Christian. “It was a good strike – I had a few before that! I was warmed up to shoot and very pleased it went in.

“We know these games are very close and very tough. Brighton are a difficult team to play against because they are waiting for us, everyone was in their box so it’s difficult to find any space to play any football and create any big chances.

“We keep going until the last minute. We had chances and that was the case in the other games as well, games where we should have scored before instead of making it so exciting and nerve-wracking! In the end it’s about taking the chances you get.

“This was a one-way game and it’s difficult to break through. It was possession from halfway in their half to the goal, they kept their positional plan and we tried to break through.

“We needed a result – so did they – and it was patience, building and trying to create something out of nothing. In the end it was a big win.”

The win means we’re now three points clear of Chelsea in third with three games remaining in the Premier League. Arsenal are four adrift in fifth and United six behind in sixth, both with a game in hand and playing tonight, Arsenal at Wolves, United facing their derby against City.

Not forgetting that we also have the semi-finals of the Champions League against Ajax to look forward to as well! We face the Dutch side at home on 30 April before the second leg in Amsterdam on 8 May.

Christian added: “Before the season started we would have signed up for being in the semi-finals of the Champions League and being where we are (in the Premier League).

“Of course we would love to have gone even further in the Premier League as well but at the end you need to win the games you can, we’ve done that in the Champions League and we also need to do that in the Premier League to secure our place in the Champions League again next season.”