‘Made the game easy’ – Conte reflects on dominant Spurs display against Newcastle

Antonio Conte has praised the way his Tottenham players performed en route to securing a dominant win over Newcastle United.

Spurs entered the Premier League top four earlier this evening with a 5-1 hammering of the Magpies, who initially took a first half lead in north London.

Conte’s men quickly responded to Fabian Schar’s free-kick through a Ben Davies header before a second period onslaught of four goals ensued courtesy of Matt Doherty, Heung-min Son, Emerson Royal and Steven Bergwijn.

And the 52-year-old was quick to commend his squad for battling adversity while acknowledging the marked improvement made since his arrival earlier this term.

Conte told BBC Sport: “This league is very difficult to try to be in the race for the Champions League. We want to stay there until the end. We have to try to continue to play this way with intensity, accuracy. My team is improving in many aspects.

“I’m very happy. I was happy before the international break. I said it was a pity we had to stop. I asked my players today to start in the same way we left. It was a good performance. Newcastle are a good team. They’ve changed totally now. Tactically they are very good. It wasn’t easy, we made the game easy.

“The first half we tried to be in control of the game. It was hard to find space. It was good to go 1-0 down because I’ve seen the right reaction of the players.

“In the past maybe when in difficulty you could lose your mind. Instead the team were very focused and a lot of positive things I’ve seen today.

“It was a pity [Harry Kane didn’t score]. I said my only disappointment is he didn’t score. He played an amazing game. He made passes and assists. He has to continue this way. We’re talking about a world-class striker. He’s enjoying playing in this way.

“We know we have eight final games. Arsenal has a good advantage. We have to try to stay in the race and give our best, to make our fans happy. Our fans enjoy watching the team playing this way, scoring so many goals. At the end of the season not to regret. If we give everything, then we’ll see what we can reach.”

Tottenham will look to keep their momentum and make it four wins in a row when they travel to a faltering Aston Villa next Saturday.

Spurs Web Opinion

Conte will definitely be happy with what he saw against Newcastle as it really showed just how he wants his team to play.

Spurs seem to have some momentum now but they have to keep that going to keep their Champions League aspirations intact.

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