Tottenham Hotspur defender Steven Caulker admits that the defeat against Manchester City is still hovering over the minds of most of the players, and has revealed that the late goal they conceded was ‘hard to take’.
The player however insists that the team can still hold its head high, and take pride from their performance against the reigning English champions.
Tottenham had been the better side for the majority of the 90 minutes, and had taken a well deserve lead in the first half through Caulker’s headed effort.
They had frustrated City in the middle of the park by packing it with players and denying them any opportunity at goal. The back four struggled with the tricky Argentinian duo of Sergio Aguero and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Carlos-c8346 Tevez, but Tottenham survived the first half with
a goal to the goods.
However, a second half strike by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sergio-c33030 Aguero levelled the score, and a late Edin Dzeko volley earned the hosts the three points. City’s change of tactics and formation had worked, and Tottenham had been denied the victory which would’ve marked their first
double in Manchester in over a decade.
The defeat marks Andre Villas-Boas’ third in the last four games, and has pushed Tottenham down at 7th in the league table, with only a slender 1-point lead over local rivals http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429.
The fight for fourth place now remains more open and intense than ever, with the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Everton-c13019, West Brom and Fulham all pushing for the Champions League spot.
Caulker has admitted that the players were disappointed at having lost the game against City, but insists that a result against Arsenal will lift up spirits and boost the team’s morale once again. The player said:
“The lads put in a lot of effort and it’s hard to take that result with a late goal. We were comfortable at half-time. Obviously, I was delighted to score the goal, that got us in front and we were looking steady.”
“In the second half we started to drop off with their pressure, they kept going and scored two goals in the end. They are a strong side and we can take a lot of pride in that performance, especially in the first half. We’ll try to bounce back in the North
London derby next week.”
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