Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino believes his team made a statement on Monday night by beating Manchester United 3-0.
An excellent brace from Lucas Moura backed up a goal from Harry Kane, as the Londoners turned on the style in the second half to sweep aside Jose Mourinho's men. Afterwards, Pochettino admitted this was a significant moment for his team, per Dejan Kalinic of Goal:
"I think it's so important because it puts us in a very important position in the table.
"Another negative result today and it's open again, [people would say it's] difficult for Tottenham to win away from home against the top six again.
"This can appear some big statement to say, 'OK, we are here' to show that we believe in ourselves. Good character. I think in the end only three points but we need to keep calm.
"In the same way we can be happy because Manchester United is a great team and it's not easy to play and come here. Maybe it's easy to score but after 1-0 you want to play safe and say, 'OK, come on, let's play safe and finish the game 1-0.'"
The victory sees Spurs keep up with the early pace being set by Liverpool, Chelsea and Watford, having won all three of their games in the Premier League.
It did feel like a landmark performance for Tottenham, who have been criticised for their record away from home against the elite sides since Pochettino took over. Late last season, they beat Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge to effectively secure UEFA Champions League qualification.
Yet despite United's issues, this felt like another step up, as Pochettino's team put together a clinical away performance. Owen Gibson of the Guardian praised the work being done at the club:
The bedrock of the side's progression under Pochettino has been his ability to improve players at his disposal, and it looks as though a number of footballers within his squad are going to make more strides in 2018-19.
Moura is undoubtedly one, as he grabbed his second and third goals of the campaign already, running the Red Devils ragged. Having struggled to make his mark last season having arrived from Paris Saint-Germain in January, he now appears ready to take the English game by storm:
There is a long way to go for Tottenham if they are to be considered as major challengers for silverware, but they've been as impressive as anyone else in the division so far this season. It's clear, despite the concerns over their lack of signings in the transfer window, that this is an upwardly mobile football team too.
Next up for Spurs is a trip to Watford on Sunday in the Premier League in what promises to be another challenging encounter. If they can make it four wins from four before the first international break, the foundation will be there for an exciting 2018-19 campaign.
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