Date published: Wednesday 3rd April 2019 9:23
Mauricio Pochettino has called on Tottenham to begin winning trophies after they opened their long-awaited new stadium with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.
In his programme notes, Pochettino concluded with “we are home” after calling upon his team to rise to the occasion on the night. His team obliged, although it wasn’t entirely convincing throughout.
Son Heung-min created a slice of history for himself as he scored the first competitive goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, placing himself alongside Tom Smith, who did the same at White Hart Lane way back in 1899, and Christian Eriksen added the second
The South Korean struck a heavily deflected effort early in the second half, with Eriksen adding a second in the final 10 minutes to provide the perfect homecoming party.
It has been a long and painful wait to get back home for Spurs – 689 days since they last played at White Hart Lane – but on a memorable evening in front of just over 59,000 fans every one of those 51 trips to Wembley for a ‘home’ game will have been worth it.
“It’s a special moment, a special night. I feel and believe it is the best stadium in the world,” said Pochettino, speaking to Sky Sports after the match.
“We knew the game was going to be difficult and tough. You don’t know how we’re going to react but, playing the way we played in the first half, we were going to score.
“I’m pleased for Daniel Levy because of this fantastic project and I dedicate that victory to him.
“The emotion was amazing from the beginning. To win was so important to us. Today we touched the glory. Now we need to touch the glory of lifting trophies. Now is the start of a chapter. We close one chapter and open another chapter and bring victory to our fans.”
