Antonio Conte admits that Tottenham Hotspur's chance to beat Newcastle United came and went - but the Italian paid tribute to the Magpies albeit through gritted teeth.
Newcastle brought Spurs' 100% record to an end after seven straight wins at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. And as the final whistle sounded the Toon Army partied at the swanky London venue.
Conte said: "Before the situation the first goal we created many chances to score. Maybe if we had better finishing we could score."
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Conte was irked by Callum Wilson's goal as Spurs thought the Newcastle man had fouled Hugo Lloris before VAR awarded the strike.
Conte said: "Then it happened this situation, I don't want to comment on the referee decision. I don't want to comment.
"Not so good. We conceded a goal from a long ball. In our best moment Newcastle scored their first goal. Their second goal came from a counter-attack. Then it was really difficult to come back against Newcastle."
Conte took a swipe at those above him at Spurs when making it clear that their failure to sign more players in the summer window had resulted in them falling away from a title challenge. The loss to Newcastle made it two defeats in a row.
Conte reflected: "We have to finish this period of games and then in January we'll see where we are, which improvement we need. Together with the club.
"The club knows very well. I was very clear in the summer. If we want to play in the Premier League and Champions League you need to improve the squad.
"When you play, play, play, injuries happen. When three to five players are out it becomes a problem for a team like Tottenham."
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