Tottenham boss Antonio Conte feels his side deserve to lead the race for the fourth in the Premier League after seeing his side take advantage of another Manchester United slip-up.
Having watched United lose 1-0 in the lunchtime kick-off against Everton, Spurs were handed another big boost when Arsenal then slipped up 2-1 to Brighton. Already sitting in fourth, Conte’s side had the chance to extend their lead over their rivals as they made the trip to Aston Villa.
And they made no mistake as they comprehensively beat Steven Gerrard’s team 4-0 at Villa Park, with Son Heung-min the star of the show with a superb hat-trick. The result puts Spurs firmly in the driving seat to clinch the coveted final Champions League spot.
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They now sit three points ahead of their north London rivals, and six points ahead of United. With the Gunners still holding a game in hand, United’s hopes of finishing in the top four look to be all-but over.
"To be resilient is important if we want to be a top team, in every game there are moments when the opponent can create difficulty and if we are not strong you will never win something or do something important,” Conte said after his side’s victory.
“We are going in this aspect, I'm very happy because I have a group of players who want to show me that they will improve in many aspects.
“When you have this you have to be happy to work with them and to try to do something important at the end of the season. Seven games to go and we are showing that we are deserving to stay in the race for a place in the Champions League.”
Conte added in an interview with Sky Sports: "We have to look to ourselves, I say this to my players. A strong team does not depend on others. We look at ourselves.
“We need to understand the moment to kill your opponent, today was an important moment because of other results. It was good for us. It was good because we won, if you don’t win then it’s not useful to look at other team’s results.”
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