TOTTENHAM MANAGER MAURICIO Pochettino has expressed his gratitude in the way the Everton players handled an incident that saw Andre Gomes suffer a fracture dislocation to his right ankle yesterday.
The 26-year-old Portuguese international’s injury — which he will have surgery on Monday — occurred as his momentum from Heung-min Son’s trip saw him crash into Spurs defender Serge Aurier.
Pochettino — whose side were denied a first away win in the league since January with a late stoppage time equaliser from Cenk Tosun — blamed VAR for the red card as Son had been initially just booked.
The Spurs boss — whose side remain in the bottom half in 11th place with 13 points from their first 11 games — expressed his sorrow for Gomes but said a visibly distressed Son had not intended to provoke such an injury.
He also praised the behaviour of Seamus Coleman, in particular. The Ireland skipper, who suffered a similar injury in a World Cup qualifier against Wales in March 2017, visited the Tottenham dressing room to talk to Son afterwards.
“The players from Everton were fantastic,” said Pochettino. “The captain came to the dressing room to console Son.
I want to say thank you to the players and Coleman, who came in on behalf of the squad of Everton.”
Everton striker Cenk Tosun said he and his team-mates could not understand what Gomes was saying.
“Everybody is sad inside. Some players, they nearly cried,” said the Turkey international.
“He was in shock, his eyes were open so big. He was like crying, shouting and screaming.
“I just tried to hold him and speak to him. I tried to tell him to stay calm. We couldn’t understand him.”
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