Carabao Cup: Pochettino applauds Alli’s behaviour

Tottenham Hotspur manager, Mauricio Pochettino, has praised Dele Alli for the restraint he showed after being struck by the object thrown from the crowd, during his team’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates on Wednesday night in the Carabao Cup.

“It was an amazing reaction,” Pochettino said in his news conference ahead ofSunday’s Premier League match with Everton.

“In another country the player was going to be down on the pitch. Dele behaved really well. Arsenal should be grateful to him because the player could have gone down and created a massive problem.

“I think the behaviour was top from Dele. Sometimes he is criticised but he was very mature.”

Arsenal’s statement added: “We are not responsible for the actions of one individual, but send our apologies to Dele Alli and everyone at Tottenham Hotspur for this incident.

“We do not tolerate any anti-social, discriminatory or violent behaviour at Arsenal Football Club.”

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Pochettino added that Arsenal should not be punished for the actions of one person, claiming: “One person cannot create a mess in a club like Arsenal.

“Arsenal is going to take a big decision, with responsibility to fix. People have to behave and celebrate and support your team but in the right way.

“It’s such a dangerous thing, if the bottle hit him on his head or his eyes we’re then talking about a very bad thing.

“There’s no point when you go to enjoy a game and that happens.”

Alli had earlier scored the second goal and Spurs went on to reach the semi-finals with a 2-0 victory.

Wednesday’s incident follows a banana skin being thrown towards Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the Premier League match between the sides at the same venue on December 2.

The Spurs fan responsible was fined and banned from football for four years on Tuesday.