Football
Dan Kilpatrick, Tottenham Correspondent 7y

Tottenham's Serge Aurier did not deserve red card - Mauricio Pochettino

LONDON -- Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino refused to blame Serge Aurier for his sending off in Saturday's 3-2 win at West Ham but admitted Spurs were dominated by the Hammers after going down to 10 men.

Right wing-back Aurier, making his full Premier League debut, was sent off 20 minutes from time after being shown a second yellow card for a tackle from behind on Andy Carroll, and he is the first Spurs player to be shown a red card in a league game since Vlad Chiriches against Stoke in May 2015, 868 days ago.

Spurs were leading 3-1 at the time after a first-half double from Harry Kane and second half goals from Christian Eriksen and Javier Hernandez, but West Ham made it a nervy finish after Cheikhou Kouyate's thumping header on 86 minutes.

Asked about the sending off afterwards, Pochettino said: "I understand this is football. The first yellow he didn't deserve. The second, sometimes this happens. It happened with me many times. The team is happy with him. He has settled really well.

"We played well and fought. Sometimes it is good to suffer a little bit as it means you are alive. We deserved to win the game. With 10 men for us they dominated the game and put balls into the box -- they are powerful in that phase of the game -- but we held on. This means more than three points as they played for their pride and for the fans.

"We are people that love to work. we feel the passion and try to improve the team in different aspects. This was good example of when the team should play, when they should defend and when they should compete. Now the team can play and compete in different ways."

Pochettino hailed the performance of Kane who continued his recent good form, saying he was "in love" with the striker.

When asked if Kane was the best striker in England, Pochettino said: "Not only in England I find it hard to find the words to describe him. I am in love like the fans are in love, like his teammates are in love.

"He is so humble; he keeps all the values that managers like me appreciate a lot. That is why I am in love with him for different reasons."

Kane, who made it eight goals in six matches for club and country in September, added: "When you are 3-0 up and end up going 3-1 or 3-2 it is always nerve-wracking, especially with 10 men. But it is a great result.

"I see stuff go round on social media [about my goalscoring] but I don't think it. I just want to score against every team. I am delighted to get a couple and help the team win.

"We know we have to improve our home form and we will be right up there. To get nine points from three away games is really good."

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