Fri 25 January 2019, 03:07
Tottenham HotspurMauricio Pochettino spoke only of his pride after we bowed out of the Carabao Cup semi-final on penalties at Chelsea on Thursday night.
We took a 1-0 lead to Stamford Bridge from the first leg but Chelsea turned the tie around with a quick double from N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard in the first half.
Mauricio changed our system to a 3-4-3 in the second half and it reaped rewards when Fernando Llorente headed home Danny Rose’s excellent cross to level the aggregate score on 50 minutes.
Chances came and went at both ends but it stayed 2-1 on the night, 2-2 on aggregate and so we went straight to penalties. Eric Dier and Lucas Moura missed from the spot and Chelsea took the shoot-out 4-2 for a place in the final.
“I’m very disappointed, I thought we competed really well,” said Mauricio. “We need to feel proud about our performance and proud of the players. They need to be congratulated because we were so brave and we played really well in the second half, that was brilliant.
“In the first half, until we conceded, I thought we were in control. We changed the way we played a little in the second half and it was difficult for Chelsea to read the situation. They couldn’t adapt to the formation, that was good. We surprised them and started to create chances.
“I’m disappointed we didn’t score a second goal and then penalties, it’s about a little luck. We won against Watford (in the third round) and this time it went the opposite way.
“We tried, we fought and we stay with our heads up, feel proud and keep going. We need to be ready for Sunday (Palace in the FA Cup) because the competition doesn’t wait for you."
Meanwhile, Mauricio reported that Ben Davies went off in the first half with a groin injury - "a small thing" - and Moussa Sissoko, who limped off late on his return from injury, "is okay".
