SUNDERLAND: Mauricio Pochettino conceded Tottenham need to discover a killer instinct after they were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw despite a dominant display against Sunderland on Saturday.
Pochettino’s side twice squandered the lead at the Stadium of Light as they paid the price for missing a string of chances to allow the hosts back into the contest.
A late own goal from Harry Kane denied Tottenham a fifth successive win against the Black Cats and boss Pochettino confessed his disappointment at his players’ costly wastefulness in front of goal.
“We needed to kill the game off. We scored two goals away from home, but we had to be more solid,” said Pochettino, whose side have won two of their first four league matches.
“If you concede goals like we did today after going ahead twice then it shows we need to be smarter.
“It was too easy for Sunderland to score and it’s something I will analyse. When you don’t win, it’s always difficult to praise the players too much.
“We did enough to win the game but in the end it’s finished 2-2 and at the moment we’re disappointed by that.”
England Under-21 forward Kane had been on the field for just three minutes as a substitute when he diverted a Jordi Gomez free-kick into his own net with eight minutes left to cap a battling Sunderland comeback.
“Of course Harry is disappointed with his own goal, but that’s football and he will learn from it,” Pochettino added.
Sunderland remain without a league victory this season, but manager Gus Poyet, the former Tottenham midfielder, professed himself more than satisfied with a point from a third draw in four games.
“We’re happy with that point and I’m sure Mauricio is disappointed that Tottenham didn’t win,” Poyet said. AFP