Mauricio Pochettino has come out and said that officials made not one but two mistakes in his side’s 2-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal.

The Spurs boss felt that there was beyond any reasonable doubt that both goals or rather actions that lead to the goals, were errors made by the officials. In what was supposed to be a highly contested match, goals from Shkodran Mustafi and Alexis Sanchez gave Arsene Wenger his first win in a North London Derby against Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham.

However, with many claiming that Pochettino would end up victorious at the Emirates, things did not go the Argentine’s way, with him rallying against refereeing decisions during the match. Before Mustafi tucked away the header from a Mesut Ozil free-kick, Davinson Sanchez was penalized after a foul on Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez by Mike Dean.

However, during his post-match interview, Mauricio Pochettino said “If you analyse the game until we concede the goal [in the 36th minute] the team was doing well before. We were better than them but in the end, it is a massive mistake like this.

The first [goal], sure it’s obvious and the second one maybe. But in this type of game when you play a team in the top six like Arsenal, the small details change the game and of course, put the game in one side.

The win allowed Arsenal to move one point behind Tottenham, who sit in fourth position and four points behind second-placed Manchester United. But while Pochettino’s blamed Mike Dean and co, for Arsenal the win meant that their incredible home run would continue and also answer any questions that their critics had.

️ Mauricio: "Very disappointing. The effort was good, but it wasn't enough. It's so frustrating when you lose in this way. We need to keep going." pic.twitter.com/YNcLfGNWIi

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) November 18, 2017

Pochettino further added “In the end it is not one mistake, it was two mistakes. It wasn’t a foul and it was offside. It was very clear. In that moment all of our plans changed and that affects the team, then we conceded quickly for 2-0 and to come back in this type of game is always difficult.  When you analyse playing a team at the same level, the team that scores first in games has a big chance of winning.”

Author’s take:

While whether or not a mistake was made during the match is completely arguable, but Tottenham and Mauricio Pochettino need to move on. They play West Brom, Leicester City, Watford and then Stoke City, all matches which could end up handing out very important points which may change the course of the title race towards the end of the season.

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