Mauricio Pochettino has praised Tottenham Hotspur striker Vincent Janssen.
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri and Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino at full time
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has told the Hertfordshire Mercury that he is ‘very, very, very happy’ with striker Vincent Janssen.
Spurs went into today’s game with Leicester City having failed to win any of their last four games in all competitions, and desperately needed a win to regain some momentum.
On the stroke of half time, Vincent Janssen was hauled down inside the penalty area by Robert Huth, and the Dutchman stepped up to score and hand Tottenham a 1-0 lead.
Tottenham’s Vincent Janssen celebrates scoring against Leicester
Spurs will have been hoping to build on their lead and get a crucial second goal, but title holders came back to equalise as Ahmed Musa scored for the second week in a row.
Tottenham pushed for the winning goal but couldn’t find it, as Jan Vertonghen hit the cross bar to leave Spurs with four draws in the last five games in all competitions.
It’s something of a sticky patch for Spurs, but one player who will still be pleased after today’s draw is striker Janssen, who scored his first Premier League goal for Tottenham.
Tottenham’s Vincent Janssen celebrates scoring
The Dutch attacker, 22, joined Spurs in a big-money deal from AZ Alkmaar over the summer, but had gone over 400 minutes of Premier League action without finding the net.
That run is now over, and whilst Janssen’s three goals in all competitions have all come from the penalty spot, he should gain some confidence as Spurs struggle to score goals without the injured Harry Kane.
After the final whistle today, manager Pochettino was asked about Janssen’s performance, and he admitted to the Hertfordshire Mercury that he is ‘very, very, very happy’ with his display.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino
Pochettino revealed that he was particularly impressed with Janssen having the nerve to take the penalty, showing ‘big character and a big personality’ to step up and score for Spurs.
“Always it’s important for our main striker to play but we are very happy with Vincent, very, very, very happy with him,” said Pochettino. “We brought him in to try and share with Harry, it’s impossible to try and keep all the pressure on him to score.”
“The responsibility to take the ball and take the penalty, even though there was massive pressure, for me he showed big character and a big personality to shoot,” he added
What did you think of Janssen’s performance against Spurs?
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