Spurs earned a late 1-0 win over Newcastle at Wembley on Saturday.
Rafa Benitez cheekily remarked about Tottenham Hotspur’s extensive injury list that Mauricio Pochettino has little to worry about due to the quality of players in depth – and Spurs fans have blasted the Newcastle United manager.
Benitez watched his Newcastle side come within an inch of beating Pochettino’s Tottenham side, as Salomon Rondon hit the post with the score still 0-0. Son Heung-min scored late on to win the match.
Son scored his second goal in two games since returning from the Asian Cup, but he had a big, helping hand from Toon goalkeeper Martin Dubravka. Son’s strike was straight at the Slovakian, though the ball crept through his legs.
The enthusiasm on Tyneside has improved somewhat after Newcastle broke their transfer record to sign Miguel Almiron while Antonio Barreca joined on loan from AS Monaco. Newcastle also beat Manchester City 2-1 last week.
Benitez was quoted by the Chronicle as saying: “I have to laugh a bit when they say they lose players to injuries because of the quality of the players they have to come in.”
Indeed, Newcastle have lacked in depth all season, and it has seen the likes of Sean Longstaff entrusted to shine in the middle of the park – something which the young midfielder has done.
But Spurs fans reacted to Benitez’s thinly-veiled dig at Tottenham, with the Spanish boss suggesting that Spurs’ recent woes should not be blamed on their injury list. Tottenham fans reacted, and were not particularly impressed on Twitter.
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