Tottenham defender said the players never believed a win over Arsenal was in doubt.
Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen
Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Jan Vertonghen says the team never doubted they would beat Arsenal.
Speaking to the club’s official website after their 2-0 victory, Vertonhen said that at half-time when the scoreline was still 0-0, they had complete belief they would come out on top.
Star man Harry Kane set the tone for Spurs early on by having a shot at goal in the opening stages, and Tottenham were the more aggressive team throughout.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino
Their fitness, attitude and belief paid dividends with two quickfire goals early in the second half, a blow from which Arsenal never looked like recovering.
Speaking about the team’s half-time team talk, Vertonghen said: “We were very calm at half-time.
“We said ‘continue the way we’re playing and we’ll score’.
“We were so strong and confident and especially with what we’ve shown at the Lane, we knew it was coming.
“We scored twice in three minutes and we knew the game was over. We’re so confident.”
Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin in action with Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen
The difference between Arsenal and Tottenham was that had Tottenham somehow found themselves two goals down, you would have fancied them to recover.
Arsenal are a different proposition entirely at the moment, lacking confidence especially when the going gets tough.
The Gunners cannot finish above Tottenham this season after dodging that particular bullet last campaign, and may miss out on Champions League qualification altogether.
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