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Poch: Spurs were fantastic, but not clinical

Cape Town - Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino thought his side should have been more ruthless after their 2-1 win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday.

Korean striker Son Heung-min bagged an early brace in the seventh and 23rd minutes for Spurs, before Ben Gibson pulled one back for Boro in the 65th minute.

"We were fantastic in the first half and it's a shame we only scored twice," Pochettino said. "We have to learn, we need to be more aggressive and clinical and improve our percentage in front of goal.

"If that doesn't happen then the second half can be difficult to manage. You always allow the possibility of the opponent scoring a goal and then you can suffer. But I'm happy with the victory, we fully deserved the win after the 90 minutes and I'm very pleased for everyone."

He added: "We wanted to follow in the same way in the second half but be more aggressive, more focused. I'm not so happy in the second half because we lost that half 1-0, but we need to look forward, improve and learn."

The Argentine coach also had praise for Son following his match-winning brace, taking the South Korean's tally up to four already this campaign.

"It's fantastic for us and of course, for him," Pochettino added.

"He scored twice, gave us the three points and that's important. But it's a collective effort and that's always most important for us. We need that mentality."

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