Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has urged his players to remain optimistic despite surrendering a two-goal lead today against Stoke City.
Spurs raced into the lead after just the 19th minute when Eric Dier powered a header past Jack Butland. Pochettino's men were in control and further cemented their advantage on the stroke of half time when Nacer Chadli hit a well-struck volley to make it 2-0.
It appeared the hosts would make it 3-0 in the second half, but Harry Kane could not convert, while the game then changed.
Stoke were given a penalty in the 78th minute, from which Marko Arnautovic made no mistake, while just five minutes later Mame Biram Diouf secured a point for the visitors.
Pochettino believes his side were the better team for 70 minutes and claimed the penalty changed the match.
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He told the BBC: "In football it’s never closed until the final whistle. It’s disappointing. The team played very well for 70 minutes and the penalty changed the game a little bit."
However, the Tottenham manager does not want his players to be downbeat with dropping two points when in full control and has told them to keep working hard.
"We need to be optimistic, look forward and keep working.
"From my position it was difficult to see what happened, I don’t know if it was a penalty or not, but until this moment we played really well and created chances."
Spurs now have just a single point after two Premier League games, having lost at Manchester United last weekend.
