Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino lauded his side’s performance in their 2-0 win over Manchester City as “nearly perfect”.

Spurs are just one point behind leaders City after the victory, and it was their third successive league victory over their opponents after doing the double last season.

Pochettino, who was asked if it had been the best performance by Spurs since he became manager, said: “I am really happy, really pleased, the performance was nearly perfect. When playing a great team like City, you need to be fantastic.

“I don’t know if it’s our best, I think we have played some good games, but today we worked very hard and were fantastic on the pitch.

“I think it was a really exciting game, both teams played in an exciting way, we share a similar philosophy. For both teams, the mentality was to go forward and play football.

“We are a team who always want to have control and be in front, City want the same as us. It was a battle on the pitch, and I am very pleased we won and showed our philosophy.”

Pochettino refused to talk about his team as title contenders, saying it was too early in the season to talk about aims, but stressed the importance of consistency.

He was also relaxed about Erik Lamela’s penalty miss. The Argentine – standing in as taker in place of the injured Harry Kane – had a tame effort saved by City keeper Claudio Bravo in the second half.

Asked whether Lamela had really been the designated penalty taker, Pochettino laughed it off, and said: “Lamela, Eriksen, anyone could take it, it was whoever felt better to shoot, and it is always better that two players want to take the ball, it shows they are brave.

“Maybe Son takes the next one, or Lamela, it is not a problem. That is football. When you prepare the game there are two or three players who can take the ball.

“Different things can happen on the pitch, and they discuss it between them. They are allowed to take the decision, it is difficult to have a say from the touchline, and you’re not allowed to go into the middle to tell them what to do.”