Pochettino loses his cool as Spurs slump, Huddersfield closer to relegation

London (AFP) – Mauricio Pochettino launched a furious rant at referee Mike Dean after Tottenham’s Premier League title challenge suffered a crushing blow in a controversial 2-1 defeat against Burnley, while Huddersfield were pushed closer to relegation by their 2-0 loss at Newcastle on Saturday.

Pochettino’s side would have moved within two points of leaders Manchester City with a win at Turf Moor.

But they squandered the chance to enhance their title prospects with a sloppy display that saw Chris Wood put Burnley ahead after half-time.

There was controversy about Wood’s goal as it came from a corner which Tottenham felt shouldn’t have been given.

But Pochettino’s men had a break of their own when Kane, back after missing seven games with an ankle injury, capitalised on a throw-in that was taken in the wrong place.

At that stage, Tottenham looked poised to push on for a fifth successive league victory.

However, they paid the price for sloppy defending as Barnes struck with seven minutes left to extend Burnley’s unbeaten league run to eight matches.

It was a bitter blow for third placed Tottenham, who will be eight points off top spot if second placed Liverpool, currently level on points with City, win at Manchester United on Sunday.

Pochettino was fuming at full-time, confronting Dean and his assistants on the pitch in a lengthy rant that showed his frustration at both Burnley’s first goal and Tottenham’s missed opportunity.

Television pictures seemed to show Pochettino and his assistant Jesus Perez reacting to something said to him by Dean and the Argentine reportedly carried on his finger-pointing protest in the tunnel.

But Pochettino refused to elaborate on the row, instead admitting his out of character complaints were sparked by the tension of the title race.

“We need to find someone to blame, it is myself and us because we have in our hands the capacity to win the game and we didn’t,” Pochettino said.

“I said for me this game is going to be key to put pressure on our opponents. If we didn’t win, we cannot think now of being a real contender. It is a massive opportunity lost for us.

“When you feel so disappointed and upset, you make some mistakes. We made some mistakes on the pitch and I made some mistakes afterwards on the pitch.”

– ‘Crossed cables inside my brain’ –

Dean could be seen saying “go away” as Pochettino stood inches from his face in an incident that is certain to be included in the referee’s report and may earn the Tottenham boss a touchline ban.

from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/2H07tMG