Mauricio Pochettino: Tottenham "perfect" in win over Manchester United

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino was rightfully pleased with his side's dominant second half against Manchester United. Spurs scored three goals in less than six minutes after an evenly matched first half, and Pochettino's side went on to an emphatic victory against a United team that is searching for an identity and could very likely miss out on European competition altogether.

In post-match comments given to the BBC, Poche praised his side's play and their character.

"Very pleased. I think that the performance was perfect and our players deserve full credit. We fully deserved the result, I'm happy. We are still fighting for the title, seven points, we need to believe. It is true that after Leicester played the gap was at 10 points, it's difficult but it is important to show we are focusing on our job. I think we have shown maturity, personality,character. Since the beginning of the season the team has been improving so we feel very pleased.

Dele Alli, who has a birthday tomorrow, opened the scoring for Tottenham in the 70th minute by being at the right place at the right time to receive an inch-perfect square ball from Christian Eriksen. Pochettino went on to praise his young playmaker, who has looked a little off the boil since returning from international duty with England.

"Dele Alli is 20 tomorrow. It was important for him, the first goal, and for the team, every opportunity he has he shows his real quality. He is very mature. He is like how he plays, outside, a very natural and spontaneous person, we are very happy with the way he behaves."

Despite the win, Spurs are still seven points back of Leicester City in the race for the Premier League title. However, their Champions League ambitions are all but confirmed; Michael Caley tweeted that Spurs are as close as possible to clinching their first trip to Europe's top competition since 2010-11.