Pochettino regrets missing out on Arsenal win

Seeking to avoid a third consecutive league defeat, Arsenal led in the 39th minute through Aaron Ramsey's instinctive backheel but, the visitors' afternoon threatened to fall apart at White Hart Lane when Francis Coquelin collected a second booking for scything through Harry Kane.

Published : Mar 05, 2016 22:28 IST

Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino felt his team missed an opportunity to seize the initiative in the Premier League title race after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Arsenal.

Seeking to avoid a third consecutive league defeat, Arsenal led in the 39th minute through Aaron Ramsey's instinctive backheel but, the visitors' afternoon threatened to fall apart at White Hart Lane when Francis Coquelin collected a second booking for scything through Harry Kane.

Five minutes on from that red card, Toby Alderweireld levelled with an hour played and Kane followed up quickly with a magnificent angled strike.

But, Alexis Sanchez clinically netted an equaliser with 15 minutes to play, leaving Tottenham still behind leaders Leicester City and three points above their third-placed opponents.

"It's a missed opportunity," Pochettino told his post-match news conference. "The way that we played, I think we deserved more.

"I think in this kind of game, when you play in the position we are at the top of the table, it is important to feel that [pressure] and improve. We are very young.

"I'm happy and I am very pleased with how the players managed the game. I think when it was 11 versus 11 we deserved more and were playing much better when we conceded the goal.

"We turned it around in two minutes and then you feel disappointed and frustrated, because it was 10 versus 11. When you turn the result around you need to keep that.

"We need to improve, we are still improving and we need to move forward."

Pochettino believes an unpredictable title race still has plenty of twists to come.

"I think that there are a lot of games ahead, nine games – a lot of points," he added. "It is true that the win here was a big opportunity but Arsenal are a very good team. It is the same, with 10 or 11, they can create chances."