Pochettino hails Spurs 'maturity'

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino hailed a deserved win for his side on Saturday after two first-half goals sealed a 2-0 triumph over Southampton.

Spurs got off to a slow start at St Mary's but they picked up midway through the first half and struck twice just before the break to take command of the match.

Harry Kane opened the scoring with a fine goal on 40 minutes and Dele Alli doubled their advantage just three minutes later, although Pochettino was more impressed with the performance of his players in the second half.

The Argentine was especially pleased to see his young squad displaying a maturity beyond their years as the north London club moved up to fourth in the Premier League standings with their victory over the Saints.

"I'm pleased about the result and the performance from 20 minutes, we played very well in the last 70 minutes and deserved the win," he said after the match.

"We deserved the win because we managed the game well from 20 minutes. It's true a big save from Hugo (from Mane at 0-0) was fantastic but in the second half we showed real maturity.

"The squad is the youngest in the Premier League and it's fantastic in the way we played," he added. "I'm happy because this was a difficult game, Southampton have one of the best squads in the Premier League.

"This win showed our mentality. We're working hard, we try to win games and we're strong. We're young but we have a strong mentality."