Antonio Conte wanted his Tottenham players to take advantage of the counter-attacking opportunities against Manchester City in their big win at the Etihad on Saturday.
Coming into the Premier League meeting, Spurs had lost their last three league games and City were strong favourites to extend their unbeaten league run to 16 games. Conte had positioned the visitors as firm underdogs, explaining how they will spend most of the game without the ball and would need to be at their best to take anything back to North London.
As it happened, Spurs were brilliant and took advantage of a shaky City performance. Harry Kane pulled the strings as he sent Heung-min Son free on the left early on, for the South Korean to give Dejan Kulusevski an easy finish. After Ilkay Gundogan equalised, Kane finished well and saw another disallowed for an offside in the build-up.
Riyad Mahrez thought he'd rescued a point from the penalty spot on 90 minutes, but Kane rose highest deep in injury time to win it for Spurs, sparking wild celebrations on the touchline from Conte and his backroom staff.
Speaking after the game, Conte said his Spurs side were perfect, attributing their win to a positive mindset when City had the most of the possession and a well-executed game plan on the counter-attack.
"For sure was a great win for us against a fantastic team like Manchester City," he said.
"Compliments to Manchester City because also tonight they showed to be the best team, in my opinion, in the world for their organisation, for the players they have, for Pep.
"To win a game like this means we had a perfect performance. We were very good defensively. Before the game, during the press conference, I said we prepared for the game very well, we had a plan. For sure, when you play against Manchester City, you know the ball possession will be 70 per cent for them.
"But I always say to my players, also in the moments we’re defending, in our minds has to be the target to win the ball and to attack. Then when we had possession of the ball we moved the ball very well.
"The first goal was outstanding for me. Because we prepared for this type of situation. This type of win has to give us confidence to trust in the work we’re doing."
Speaking to Match of the Day, Conte added: "To have this thought, in the final minutes, their goal could have killed you. Instead my players wanted to win.
"For sure this is great. Maybe another team when City made it 2-2 they would have [been] thinking the game had ended. Instead my team wanted to win.
"I think in every moment of the game my team wanted to attack them. Every time we had the ball I was thinking we could hurt them."
