‘If I have to complain’: Antonio Conte thinks his Tottenham players made ‘big mistakes’ in first-half of North London Derby yesterday

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte spoke to the club’s official website after the north London derby yesterday and said his players made ‘big mistakes’ in the first-half. 

Spurs fell to their first defeat of the Premier League campaign at the Emirates yesterday after a 3-1 loss.

But Conte’s men were certainly in the game during the first-half, creating some decent openings. Spurs went behind to a brilliant long-range effort from Thomas Partey but Kane levelled things up from the penalty spot.

Tottenham started to get a hold of the game around the 30 minute mark and played through Arsenal’s relentless press. But Conte feels his side made ‘big mistakes’ when it came to the final ball. 

Conte thinks players made ‘big mistakes’

“A difficult day because in the first-half we felt the possibility to win the game. I think we had the possibility to kill the game,” Conte told Spurs Play. 

“You have to know very well that when there is this type of game, you have to be a killer.

“If I have to complain about something, it’s about the first-half because I think we had many chances. We made mistakes in the last passes, big mistakes.

“We must be disappointed for this reason because everytime we play the ball, we overcome the pressure.

“We could have hurt them, instead we kept them alive.” 

Spurs certainly created some promising openings in the first-half, with chances falling to Harry Kane, Ivan Perisic and Richarlison.

But captain Hugo Lloris made a costly error for Gabriel Jesus’ goal at the beginning of the second-half. And Emerson Royal’s red card after his challenge on Gabriel Martinelli put Spurs in a difficult position.

And a goal from Granit Xhaka put Arsenal out of sight to hand Mikel Arteta’s men yet another win.

Conte will be hoping his side can bounce back on Tuesday as they travel to Germany to play Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.