Tottenham Hotspur’s Carabao Cup campaign came to an abrupt end on Thursday evening after losing to Chelsea on penalties.
The away side battled back from conceding two goals in the first half to level the tie on aggregate when Fernando Llorente pulled one goal back on 50 minutes.
It was a spirited second half performance from Mauricio Pochettino’s side but they finally came unstuck after the penalty shoot out.
Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela netted the first two spot kicks, but Eric Dier and Lucas Moura fluffed their lines from twelve yards out, allowing Chelsea to book their place in the final.
Pochettino admitted that both Dier and Moura were disappointed with their failure to score, but revealed that the pair did not need any words of consolation due to their bravery in putting themselves forward to take responsibility.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the game Crystal Palace, Pochettino told Football.London: “I don’t need to talk (to Dier and Moura about their miss). Why, because they missed a penalty? Only those who take the responsibility can miss. I am so proud because they took the responsibility to shoot. For me, that is football – about the mistake.”
“Of course they feel disappointed like all of us, but that is a situation that can happen and is normal in football and I don’t need to tell them nothing. I know very well how they feel, they feel a little more responsible now but they need to feel free and accept that sometimes they can miss. But that is football.”
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
