Sat 19 February 2022, 20:59
Tottenham HotspurAntonio Conte heaped praise on the players after our remarkable 3-2 win at Manchester City, highlighting in particular the will to win after conceding such a late equaliser.
Where to start at the Etihad? The basics – Dejan Kulusevski opened the scoring from Heung-Min Son’s break on four minutes, but we were pegged back by Ilkay Gundogan’s equaliser on 33. Harry Kane turned Sonny’s cross home for 2-1 on the hour, then had a goal ruled out for offside on a VAR call, and VAR went against us again in the first minute of added time, a penalty awarded against Cristian Romero for handball, dispatched by Riyad Mahrez for 2-2.
But we found the desire to go again – much to Antonio’s delight. Kulusevski again found himself free on the right – this time narrowly onside – and his cross was met by a classic forward’s downward header by Kane for a dramatic winner, completing the ‘double’ against City, only the leaders’ third defeat all season.
“I’m pleased, especially for the players, because we showed great commitment, great belief and it was incredible after the penalty and 2-2, okay, you could say we’re happy because 2-2 is a good result against Manchester City, but instead we wanted to win," said the Head Coach. "I think what we have to bring with us is this desire in every moment of the game. We wanted to get three points. I was pleased to see this from my players.”
Coming into the game off the back of three Premier League defeats, Antonio was pleased with the manner in which we approached such a tough contest.
“Congratulations to my players, because we prepared for this game very well, and after three defeats it wasn’t easy, especially when you play against Manchester City, who I consider at this moment the best team in the world," he said.
“To come here, score three goals, maybe four, it means your performance was very good. I think this type of performance has to give us confidence. We showed that we are working very well, that we are creating a stable team, because when you have this kind of performance after three defeats against City, it means we are starting to be stable. In my opinion, in my experience, to give good results, you have to be stable, not up and down.”
