Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho praises ‘beautiful’ spat between Hugo Lloris and Son Heung-min

Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho says the clash between his captain Hugo Lloris and forward Son Heung-min was “beautiful,” as his side beat Everton 1-0 in the Premier League on Monday.

The two Spurs players had to be separated as they walked off the pitch at half-time after goalkeeper Lloris had seemingly criticized Son for not doing his defensive work.

An incensed Lloris pushed the South Korean international as the players made their way off the pitch, with teammates having to usher Son down the tunnel.

The pair then emerged for the second half appearing to have settled their differences and embraced each other at the full-time whistle.

“It’s beautiful,” Mourinho said after the game. “If you want to blame somebody for that, it’s me, because I was critical of my boys, because they are not critical enough with themselves, with each other.

“It’s something very important for the team to grow and for that you need to demand from each other and be strong personalities.

“A team of nice boys, the only thing they can win is the Fair Play Cup, which is something that I never won, and I am not interested in.”

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‘No problem at all’

A fortunate own-goal from defender Michael Keane was enough to hand Tottenham the win over Everton in an otherwise dire encounter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs, who were coming off the back of a 3-1 defeat to Sheffield United, now move up to eighth in the table in a late bid for European football next season.

French international Lloris said that the incident with Son was just “part of football” and said they had moved on.

“There is no problem at all. There is a lot of respect between him and myself,” he told BBC Sport after the game.