Antonio Conte praised his Tottenham side for recovering well from a ‘slow start’ to seal a fourth win in six Premier League matches since he took over against Crystal Palace.
Spurs breezed past the ten-man Eagles in what was the easiest of days in north London.
Harry Kane made history in the match as he equalled Robbie Fowler’s Premier League record for goals on Boxing Day.
The striker has never failed to score in a fixture on December 26 and took his tally to nine in six games with his opener.
Lucas Moura and Heung-min Son then ensured the Lilywhites would stay six points off rivals Arsenal, who also cruised to victory on Boxing Day.
And Conte was pleased with his side’s display and thanked fans for carrying them over the line and acting like a twelfth player in the XI.
“Our fans today they played with us, we were 12 players on the pitch,” the Italian told talkSPORT of his side’s performance.
“It was a good performance. We started a bit slow in the first 20 minutes but despite this we created chances to score.
“The we scored the first goal and the second goal and started to take great good confidence, creating many chances to score and control the game.
“We got three points and this is very important.”
Asked about why his side might have started slowly, Conte added: “I think that our start was slow because we were not doing what we prepared.
“It was a bit slow for the players to understand Crystal Palace.
“After this these moments, we controlled the game, created chances and understood the way to unlock Crystal Palace, and we did.”
Asked about the hours of speculation as to whether the game was going to go ahead before kick off, Conte said: “We are leaving this situation.
“It’s been three weeks now where we’ve seen games have the ability to be played or postponed.
“I said to my players to be focused and believe they are playing every game.
“We must protect the decision the Premier League are going to take.”
Kane’s opener against Crystal Palace saw him match Robbie Fowler’s Premier League record for goals on Boxing Day.
The Tottenham striker has never failed to score in a fixture on December 26 and took his tally to nine in six games.
That matched the tally of former Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester City man Robbie Fowler.
Conte was pleased how his front three all got on the scoresheet but insisted it was the work of all his players that got them the three points they needed.
“All the team have to be pleased,” he said. “I’m happy for Harry, Son and Lucas but they know very well but that it’s the important work of the whole team and I’m happy.
“For sure our strikers scoring is important but we created many chances to improve our final score.
“We must be happy until midnight, then we must start focussing on Southampton.”
Get The EDGE
talkSPORT EDGE is the free football app that keeps you one step ahead of your mates with short, sharp and shareable content.
Stay up to date with everything going on in the football world with breaking news, live scores and in-app betting.
How can I get it?
It’s available on iPhone and Android devices.
For iPhone, download talkSPORT EDGE via the App Store here.
For Android, download talkSPORT EDGE via the Play Store here.
Read More
Photo Credit: