Harry Kane brace helps Spurs claim derby win over Arsenal

Spurs 2 Arsenal 1: Mauricio Pochettino had his doubters when he was made Tottenham manager and some close to the club feared he might not see the season out after a slow start, but he is gradually winning them over.

An undefeated season against North London rivals Arsenal helps, of course. That and a League Cup final place and spending the chairman’s money wisely.

The Argentine coach, who impressed so much when he was in charge at Espanyol and Southampton, still had it all to prove when he replaced Andre Villas-Boas last summer.

The first difference was that he did not spend over £100m in the transfer window on over-priced ill-suited imports, blowing Real Madrid’s world record fee for Gareth Bale in a distinctively negative fashion.

Pochettino had already illustrated in his early managerial career his desire to build from within, promote academy and homegrown players.

Now he is doing it to great effect at White Hart Lane. Compared to his predecessor’s splurge the previous summer, Pochettino paid out less than £30m after taking over.

This latest comprehensive win – Harry Kane’s two second half goals to cancel out Mesut Ozil’s early strike for Arsenal did not truly reflect the one-sided nature of the contest – was built largely on players who did not get a look in or failed to thrive under AVB.

Kane, now on 22 goals for the season, looks a certainty for international recognition with England having been all but lost in the hype of the big money imports despite his ten years at the club as an academy recruit.

Ryan Mason, though far from international class, is another who seemed to be destined for a career of loan deals before settling in a lower division club, before Pochettino recalled him to first team duties.

And his even more impressive midfield partner Nabil Bentaleb, just back from the African Cup of Nations, has also been round the block a few times despite being only 20.

The Algerian international signed for Tottenham’s academy as a teenager and looks to have the ability to go to the very top of the game.

“I’ve grown up playing alongside Nabil so it’s great to be doing it in the first team together,” Mason said. “We knew we could win this, even when we were down at half-time because we were the better team.”

Tottenham are now in their customary fifth spot in the Premier League table but they go to Liverpool tomorrow (on a run of 22 points from a possible 27 and have a chance to hit the top four and leave Arsenal in their wake for the first time since 1995. Asked if he was surprised Mason, Bentaleb and Kane had been ignored for so long their manager said: “It is difficult to know what happened in the past. It is difficult to speak about it. Football is the present and you cannot change the past. They have shown they have the quality to play in the first team.”

He also acknowledge spending money is not always the route to success for a club of Tottenham’s stature and added: “This is our philosophy [not to spend for the sake of it]. As a manager and a staff it was our philosophy at Espanyol, Southampton and now here. Why not? If you have players with potential for first-team, why not? This is our identity. We have to give these players opportunities. Maybe we are brave. We believe that this is the difference. When we put a player in it is because they are ready.”

The content Tottenham boss said he does not look at the League table so as not be distracted by Tottenham’s lofty position and also refuted the idea it was easier to mould young players than chuck star players into the fray. He explained: “No, it is difficult. Very difficult. It is easier to coach players, senior players, because they are already developed. You need to be patient [with younger players], to have quality, and I think my staff have this quality.”

Pochettino’s immediate job is to keep his players focused for a tricky trip to Liverpool although he insisted it will not be as hard as their recent League Cup semi-final visit to League One Sheffield United.

For Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, it is yet another battlecry about bouncing back and they have the easier task of a home match against Leicester City tomorrow night. His team were desperately flat at White Hart Lane, Ozil’s classy goal aside. However he insisted that too much could be read into a derby result.

He said: “Yeah, of course, it is dangerous to draw too many conclusions. But as well the fact is that we lost a game, and we cannot deny that. But overall, there’s a long way to go, so I believe that just keep going and recover, show quickly a strong response on Tuesday, and then we see where we stand after that.”

The Arsenal coach did reserve some words of praise for Kane and his team-mates on the occasion of a rare defeat by his near neighbours.

“Unexpectedly, I didn’t know Kane,” he admitted. “Maybe unexpectedly for Tottenham too. But he suddenly looks to have grown at a very high speed. When you think you have Soldado out, on the bench, and Adebayor not even considered, that shows you how the stature he has taken in this team. He is not only quality, but hard-working as well. He works extremely hard.”

Wenger hopes to have star player Alexis Sanchez back for Leicester, but will still be without Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere.

TOTTENHAM: Lloris 8, Walker 6, Dier 7, Vertonghen 6, Rose 7, Mason 7 (Paulinho 90), Bentaleb 8, Lamela 6 (Stambouli 90), Dembélé 7 (Chadli 75, 6), Eriksen 6, Kane 8.

Subs not used : Soldado, Vorm, Fazio, Davies.

ARSENAL: Ospina 7, Bellerin 6, Mertesacker 7, Koscielny 6, Monreal 6, Ramsey 6, Coquelin 7 (Akpom 89), Cazorla 5 (Rosicky 68, 6), Welbeck 6 (Walcott 78, 5), Giroud 6, Özil 6.

Subs not used: Szczesny, Gibbs, Gabriel, Flamini.

Referee: M Atkinson.