Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino: Spurs 'disappointed and tired' after Liverpool defeat

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino insists his side deserved more after their defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on 10 February.

Just three days on from coming from behind to beat Arsenal, Spurs twice fought back from a goal behind before succumbing to a late winner from Mario Balotelli as Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool side sealed a vital 3-2 win.

Tottenham's reputation for being one of the fittest teams in the Premier League, given this season's penchant of getting results in the latter stages of matches, saw them battle until the final whistle, but ultimately it was not enough for Pochettino's side.

"We are disappointed with the result because I think one point would have been fair for both teams," the Tottenham boss was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"It was a great game, we played well, but this is football. The players are very disappointed, sad and tired but we have to accept football is like this.

"I am proud of the effort and we have to look forward. The only thing we need to improve, in the first half we gave Liverpool some chances and made some mistakes. We deserved more from this game."

Liverpool took the lead through Lazar Markovic after 15 minutes only to be pegged back by Harry Kane, who netted his 23<sup>rd goal of the campaign to draw the sides level.

A foul on Daniel Sturridge from Danny Rose allowed Steven Gerrard to restore his side's lead seven minutes into the second half. But Spurs were soon level with Kane again playing an influential role, diverting Christian Eriksen's saved free kick back across goal for Mousa Dembele to score.

Tottenham's hard work was undone with seven minutes remaining, though, with Mario Balotelli sweeping home Adam Lallana's cross to score his first Premier League goal of the season.