Sat 01 January 2022, 18:45
Tottenham HotspurAntonio Conte toasted the New Year with words of praise for our players and fans after a hard-fought win at Watford on Saturday.
Having attempted countless crosses into the box and created chances over the course of the game, it looked like it might have been one of those days in our first outing of 2022.
Harry Kane fired inches wide in the first half and Heung-Min Son was denied impressively by Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann in the second – Hugo Lloris saving brilliantly from Josh King in a rare attempt for the hosts in between – but the breakthrough finally came in the sixth minute of stoppage time, an extended additional period owing to a medical emergency in the crowd a few moments beforehand, as Son’s free-kick was glanced home by Davinson Sanchez.
It sparked wild scenes in the away end just a few feet away and allowed us to get the New Year off to a winning start, with Head Coach Antonio pleased to see our persistence pay off.
“Happy New Year to our fans! To celebrate the first day of the year with a win is good, also today our fans pushed us from the start until the end and for sure, they deserved this win,” he told Spurs TV pitchside at Vicarage Road.
“It was a difficult game because we played against a team well-organised defensively, they prepared this type of game but we controlled the game, we had a lot of possession and we created chances, but I think that we missed the last pass – we could do better – and also because in this type of game, if you score early then your opponent has to change the plan and you can find the space. We have players that with space are very good but it's okay, we tried to control the game, we worked very well to keep the balance and not lose patience because in this type of game you risk if you attack, attack, attack, then to give only one chance of a counter-attack to concede a goal and you lose the game.
“During the game we tried to make some substitutions because it was the fifth game in 13 days and for sure the team was a bit tired, but I tried to make some substitutions, to change some things, but I repeat, we have to be delighted to get three points against Watford. Now we have to rest tomorrow, and we have to prepare for another important game against Chelsea.”
