Mauricio Pochettino has praised Chelsea for their 2-0 win over Spurs and said the performance was the one that pleased him most this season.
Pochettino has endured an up-and-down debut season in charge of Chelsea but his team produced an impressive performance to beat former club Spurs at Stamford Bridge.
Trevoh Chalobah headed home an outstanding opener from Conor Gallagher’s free-kick on 24 minutes, before Nicolas Jackson doubled the lead after the break. The Senegalese striker reacted quickest when Cole Palmer’s fantastic free-kick came back off the bar, nodding in the second to seal the win.
The result keeps alive Chelsea’s hopes of European football for next season and Pochettino said the three points were the most satisfying of his reign to date.
“I don’t know if it is the best game of the season, but it is the one I am most happy after. The way we played and in the way we competed, that is what we have wanted from the beginning of the season,” Pochettino said in his post-match press conference.
“That is what we want to apply to the team. We were so competitive and in this way we can grow and do better in other areas.”
Pochettino was without 14 senior players through injury and the first goal was created and scored by academy products, as Gallagher crossed for Chalobah to head home. 20-year-old Alfie Gilchrist also started at right-back and the Chelsea boss said imbedding young players is part of the identity of the Blues. The Chelsea fans responded to speculation surrounding Gallagher’s future with a Tifo tribute to the midfielder pre-game.
“They were fantastic,” Pochettino said. “We talk about the identity of the club, they are players that have come through the Academy system and I think they have the capacity in this type of game to give a little bit more, because it is emotional.
“But that doesn’t mean the players that don’t come through the Academy don’t feel the same. You can see Thiago [Silva] is the same, you can see how he feels now, you can build this bond with your team.
“Of course, today they were fantastic, but the whole team was fantastic.”
