Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester City on Saturday evening – and Antonio Conte has moved to shoot down any claims that his side were just counter-attacking.
Few were giving Tottenham much of a chance against City; they had just lost three Premier League games in a row to Chelsea, Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Heading to the Etihad Stadium and taking down Pep Guardiola’s champions didn’t seem all that likely, but Tottenham did it.
Dejan Kulusevski opened the scoring on his first Premier League start before Ilkay Gundogan levelled it up for City.
Harry Kane fired Tottenham back in front, only for Riyad Mahrez to bury a late penalty and seemingly snatch a point for the hosts.
There was another twist in the tale though as Kulusevski crossed for Kane to head in the winner, giving Tottenham a 3-2 victory.
This wasn’t exactly a smash-and-grab; Tottenham could have had four goals, but Kulusevski was marginally offside from another Kane strike.
Additionally, Tottenham’s goals were well-crafted. Patient passing play, incisive at the right times and calm when City pressed them.
Some may have suggested that Tottenham just sat deep and tried to hit City on the break, but that may not be entirely fair.
Boss Conte has now given his verdict with a very short and sweet Instagram post, hitting back at any of those critics.
Conte simply posted ‘counterattacks? Maybe not’ alongside a video of all three Tottenham goals, showcasing his side’s quality on the ball.
Conte using social media to hit back at critics sounds bizarre, but it’s clear the Italian wants to defend his players passionately – and they will absolutely love that.
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