In Tottenham Hotspur’s 3-2 win over London rivals West Ham United today, Defender Serge Aurier drew Spurs’ first red card in Premier League competition since Vlad Chiriches in 2014-15. The former Paris Saint-Germain man, who got in plenty of trouble during his days with PSG, got sent off in the 70′ for a late tackle on West Ham forward Andy Carroll, which resulted in his second yellow card of the game.
This match also marked the debut of Serge Aurier with his new club, so it’s certainly “starting off on the wrong foot” to say the least.
After the game however, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino vouched for his summer transfer window acquisition and maintained that the player should not have been booted. The Argentine grudgingly admitted the second yellow card was warranted, but doesn’t believe the first yellow should have been issued.
“We played well and fought. Sometimes it is good to suffer a little bit as it means you are alive. We deserved to win the game. With 10 men for us they dominated the game and put balls into the box — they are powerful in that phase of the game — but we held on. This means more than three points as they played for their pride and for the fans,” Pochettino said.
“We are people that love to work. we feel the passion and try to improve the team in different aspects. This was good example of when the team should play, when they should defend and when they should compete. Now the team can play and compete in different ways.
“I understand this is football (Aurier’s red card). The first yellow he didn’t deserve. The second, sometimes this happens. It happened with me many times. The team is happy with him. He has settled really well.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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