Reuters: Tottenham Hotspur may have struggled to find the back of the net against Middlesbrough, but manager Mauricio Pochettino praised his team for their performance in a gritty 1-0 win and says they are ready to win the Premier League title.

After successive draws against Manchester City and Sunderland, Harry Kane scored from the spot to give second-placed Spurs a 1-0 win in Pochettino’s 100th game in charge, leaving the 44-year-old happy despite the narrow margin of victory. 

“It’s difficult. In the last few weeks we have seen how difficult it is to score, to win games, and we’re in a position, second in the table, we keep the gap with Chelsea at nine points,” he told a news conference.

“I’m pleased with the performance, we’re in a position where it’s difficult to win games,” he said.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who saw his side go down 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in the day’s early kickoff, said that the title was Chelsea’s to lose, but Pochettino says Spurs are still in the running.

“It’s good to put the standard higher, I’m happy to put pressure on us and to say that we are a real contender,” he said.

“We are a team ready to win a title. If you put us on that level, it’s okay, it’s good to put pressure on us. I manage the pressure very well, no problem.”

The 1-0 defeat leaves Middlesbrough in a precarious position at the other end of the table on 21 points in 15th place, ahead of Leicester City and Swansea City on goal difference and just one point above the drop zone.

Despite the defeat, Boro manager Aitor Karanka gave credit to his players for their overall performance.

“Once again we showed that we can compete against every single team, and once again the players have been amazing,” he told reporters, adding that Boro would be concentrating on their own results as the relegation battle unfolds.

“We have to think about ourselves. We depend on us, we are good enough to stay (up), we have to forget the opponents and be confident,” Karanka said.

Jesus double lifts City to third with late 2-1 Swansea win

Reuters: Gabriel Jesus scored twice, including a 92nd-minute winner, as Manchester City climbed to third in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory against a dogged Swansea City on Sunday.

Jesus, preferred again to top scorer Sergio Aguero, poked home to break Swansea hearts in the dying seconds in what was another eye-catching performance from the supremely-talented Brazilian.

It looked like City would be left to rue a host of missed chances when Gylfi Sigurdsson equalised in the 81st minute after Jesus had earlier opened the scoring in the 11th.

City climbed to third, one point adrift of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur while Swansea remained 17th, one point above Hull City in the relegation zone.

“I am very happy to score two goals,” Jesus told Sky Sports with team mate Fernandinho acting as translator.

“I got into the team so quickly. Everyone at the club is helping me to get better every day but of course when things like this happen it is much easier.

“We played very well all game and of course we deserved to win because we tried to score goals since the first minute.”

United maintain unbeaten run with comfortable 3-0 Leicester win

Reuters: Manchester United continued their push for a top-four finish with a comfortable 3-0 victory at champions Leicester City on Sunday, extending their unbeaten Premier League run to 15 games.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan open the scoring with a cool finish after he galloped onto Chris Smalling’s header in the 42nd minute and, with Leicester’s defence still recovering, Zlatan Ibrahimovic added a second two minutes later.

Juan Mata stroked home their third goal after some delightful link up play with Mkhitaryan in the 49th and United easily closed out the game against a Leicester side who have yet to score a league goal in 2017.

United stay sixth but have cut the gap to Liverpool and Arsenal, one and two points above them in fifth and fourth respectively, while Leicester are 16th – one point above the bottom three in the relegation zone.