Mauricio Pochettino has expressed his disappointment at Tottenham’s exit from the FA Cup to Crystal Palace on Sunday, but claimed his team deserved more from the game.
The result was completely unreflective of the day’s proceedings as the Lilywhites routinely tested Palace’s resolve and should have broken the deadlock numerous times before the break.
Their failure to do so was punished in first half stoppage time when Martin Kelly fired past Michel Vorm at the near post which the Dutchman will have been disappointed to see go in.
The score remained at 1-0 for the entirety of the match as Spurs persistently tested Wayne Hennessey in the Crystal Palace goal but just could not find a way past the Welshman.
Speaking to Spurs TV after the match, Pochettino told of his frustration at the result.
“Very disappointed. The result was negative and that’s disappointing when you have played badly but today we was just unlucky but sometimes that just happens in football. It was impossible to break Crystal Palace’s defensive line today.”
The Argentine did however, go onto praise his team’s performance against the resilient opposition.
“We created the better chances and I think we dominated the game. Sometimes when you play a lot of matches like us, it is difficult to win every game even though the performance was good.”
Pochettino then looked ahead to Thursday’s Europa League match with Fiorentina, claiming this too would be a difficult challenge for his side.
“We have another competition on Thursday, a very tough game against Fiorentina so we need to work hard and focus everyday to be ready.”
Spurs go into the game with the advantage of an away goal following the 1-1 draw against the Italian’s last week and will be looking to make the most of the opportunity to avoid the nightmare scenario of going out of two competitions in the space of a week.
