Pochettino: Wembley not to blame for Chelsea loss

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino refuted claims that Wembley Stadium has cast a hex on his club after Sunday's regrettable loss to Chelsea.

Despite controlling the majority of possession against Antonio Conte's side, Spurs couldn't produce a goal of their own. Only friendly fire by substitute Michy Batshuayi brought Tottenham back level.

Marcos Alonso's low drive in the 88th minute condemned Wembley's new tenant to a 2-1 defeat in its first Premier League outing at the Home of Football.

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Pochettino's men attempted 18 shots to the visitor's nine and swarmed the midfield, but couldn't find a way through Chelsea's staunch defence.

Tottenham has now won just twice at Wembley in 10 matches since 2007.

"The team played really well. It's not fair to blame Wembley. For me, Wembley is one of the best places in the world, one of the best places to play football," Pochettino told reporters, courtesy of ESPN FC's Dan Kilpatrick.

"I think today it was clear - if you love football and watch football, you will see that Wembley was not the problem. The size of the pitch? We played better and created chances to score.

"But that's football. We have to accept they were more clinical than us in front of goal. The opportunities we created we didn't score."

Tottenham endured a troubling start to life at Wembley last season, losing to AS Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen during a disappointing Champions League campaign.

A total of 73,587 people attended Sunday's Premier League fixture - several thousand short of the all-time record at Wembley - as they were treated to an enthralling encounter between two title rivals. Tottenham dominated proceedings after Alonso's free-kick opened the scoring, hemming the opponent into its own end but failing to get any just reward.