Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is ruing his team's slow start after a 2-0 loss at Liverpool.
Spurs were under par throughout but essentially lost the game during a two minute spell after the quarter hour mark had elapsed.
In the 16th and 18th minutes, Liverpool attacker Sadio Mane pierced the Tottenham defence with two goals to decide the game early.
As a result, the London side have been unable to gain ground on runaway Premier League leaders Chelsea as their title aspirations evaporate in a similar way to all of the Blues' rivals.
Pochettino was unhappy with the way his Spurs team started the game.
Jürgen Klopp: "I'm very happy with the performance and the result!"#LIVTOT pic.twitter.com/NeExK9gobA
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 11, 2017
"[It was] fully deserved by Liverpool. They were better than us," said the former Argentina defender.
"If you don't reach the same level of aggression from the beginning, sometimes it happens, because after 20 minutes 2-0 down and then we see it's [too] late."
For Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp, the ex-Borussia Dortmund boss was able to see his side secure their first league win of 2017 as they return - temporarily but potentially for another round of action by the end of this weekend - to the Top Four.
While Pochettino rued his own side's poor start, there were contrasting emotions for Klopp.
"I'm really happy with the performance [and] with a few specific things of the performance," he said.
"First half was an offensive part of the game, really strong, really direct and really clear."
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