Tottenham proved a point – Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino believes Tottenham’s win over Chelsea proved they can compete with the best teams in Europe.

Dele Alli scored twice in a 2-0 victory for Spurs that lifted the north London side to third in the Premier League.

It also ended leaders Chelsea’s 13-match winning run, denying them a record 14th consecutive top-flight victory.

Spurs boss Pochettino said: “Today we started (to show) what it means to be competitive.

“Maybe that was the problem last season. We missed how to compete in a better way. You need to play, you need to suffer and you need to fight.

“Tonight we played against a very good team – one of the best in Europe today – and we gave a very solid performance that made me very proud.

“I think it was important for us to reduce the gap. The top four is very close. It was the perfect thing for us to arrive to third place and be close. That is important for us.

“But it is only one game and three points. We need to be consistent and our challenge is to keep this intensity for the next 18 games of the season.”