Antonio’s verdict on Everton: “I’ve seen a lot of positive things”
Antonio Conte reeled off the positives after an impressive 2-0 win against Everton on Saturday.
Harry Kane broke the deadlock with a penalty in the 58th minute of his 400th appearance for the Club and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg wrapped up a 10th home win on the trot in all competitions - eight in the Premier League - with a finish from Rodrigo Bentancur’s pass with five minutes remaining.
Everton, as expected, proved a tough nut to crack and created a couple of chances in the first half, but once we forged ahead, Hugo Lloris wasn’t troubled. That made it 23 points from 10 games - our best start after 10 games in the Premier League era.
Speaking to SPURSPLAY, Antonio told us: “Honestly, I’m really happy, because I have seen a lot of positive things. There are wins, and wins. Today, I go back to my house really happy.
“From the start until the end, I have seen my players with the right focus, the right concentration, the right desire to understand the importance of getting three points and to win against a difficult opponent like Everton.
“I’m really happy because we prepared yesterday for a game against a 4-2-3-1, instead they played 3-5-2. But, after one year working together, we are ready to face every situation. I see that my players are improving in their maturity to face difficult situations.
“During the game, Richy’s injury was a really tough moment for us, because in that moment your confidence, your trust can go down, instead, this situation gave us more responsibility. Every single player felt, ‘now I have to give much more’, because we had to win.
“I’m really happy. We are showing stability, I always say, to play against us is not easy. For sure, we have to continue to work and improve, but we are a team, and I consider us really strong. If we are good to improve and continue to grow in other aspects, not only tactical but also to show this maturity, then we’ll have great satisfaction.”