Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has conceded that his side came up against the best team in England during this evening's 4-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester City.
Spurs began the day in the top four but were swept aside by another masterful Man City performance as Pep Guardiola's Premier League leaders opened up a 14-point gap at the top of the table courtesy of their 16th consecutive victory.
Pochettino admitted that he is "very disappointed" with the result, but believes that there are positives to take and lessons to learn from coming up against a better team.
"I think it was a good experience for the team, when you win and play well you maybe don't learn, so, you must learn this type of game. We have a lot of positive things, because we played a team in very good form with very good momentum," he told BBC Sport.
"It wasn't bad at the start [of the game], but the way we conceded from a corner was a big mistake and a massive present for them, when you play a team in very good form, you cannot give away these gifts.
"When you're playing a team with good quality, if we take risks, we give them the possibility of making chances. We tried to play, but they were better, we have to congratulate them. So far, they are the best team in England.
"I am very disappointed. We must learn, because one day we want to be in a position to win the Premier League, but today was a big lesson for us. We were never going to come here and play a different way to how we normally play, so, we tried, we tried to force the opener, but they were better."
The defeat leaves Tottenham seventh in the table, now 19 points adrift of City.
Barney Corkhill
