Goalscorer Lamela pleased with 'important point'

Erik Lamela believes the point we gained in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City will be invaluable, not just for our position in the table but for the whole team’s confidence.

On our trip to the north west, Pep Guardiola’s City made it difficult for us throughout, pressing high and peppering our goal with no less than 30 attempts – the most we have faced in a league game for eight years – but we showed resilience and, crucially, were clinical in attack.

The Citizens had twice taken the lead through Raheem Sterling and later Sergio Aguero, but we fought back on both occasions with goals either side of half-time from Erik and Lucas Moura ensuring we came away from the Etihad with an important point – the first time the Sky Blues have dropped points at home in the league since their defeat to Crystal Palace in December, 2018.

“It’s always a tough game at the Etihad,” the Argentina international explained. “It’s a difficult place to come. The numbers are true, they are a very good team. They made it very difficult for us because they managed the ball so well.

“We ran a lot to get the ball back and it was difficult for us to make progress on the pitch. We were losing twice and, ultimately, we got a point, so I’m happy with that.

“Towards the end we were a bit tired, we ran a lot, defended a lot and we left everything on the pitch. We got the point and that’s important for the confidence of the team. We always try our best. Of course, we can play much better and we will see what to do to get better. Now, we need to move forward.”

Erik both scored and assisted in the game – the second time in his Spurs career that he has achieved that feat against Manchester City.

On 56 minutes, it was the Argentine who curled in a delightful corner for Lucas to nod home our second equaliser of the day, with the midfielder having scored our first one himself as he slotted past City’s Ederson from 20 yards, just three minutes after Sterling’s 20^th-minute opener.

Describing his strike, our number 11’s first in competitive action since November, 2018, he said: “I received the ball in the pocket and I turned (to look at his options). At the beginning, I was looking to pass the ball but when I saw I was close to the goal, I just thought about shooting and the ball was in.

“I was happy to score but we need to keep going from here to get better for the next game.”