Hughton admits Norwich were outclassed

Chris Hughton admitted that his Norwich City side were outclassed as two Gylfi Sigurdsson goals consigned them to a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham.

The hosts controlled the contest from start to finish, taking 23 shots to Norwich’s four and having 68 per cent of possession, as Sigurdsson scored in either half.

And Hughton had no complaints about the outcome against a side that he feels will challenge for honours this season.

“We had no complaints today,” Hughton told the media after the match. “We were beaten by a very good side and we needed periods of possession on the ball. We didn’t do that well enough.

“Tottenham are too good with their movement and they can hurt you. They will definitely be up their challenging come the end of the season.”

The former Newcastle boss did, however, feel that Tottenham should have been reduced to 10 men when goalkeeper Hugo Lloris punched the ball from outside of his area.

“It is a clear handball, the referee then has to make decisions around that,” he added. “For me, it has to be intentional, but whether it is also about other players in covering positions, I will have to think about that.

“I must admit I haven’t seen the referee to have a proper chat, but we had a similar circumstance, albeit a few yards outside the box, last season up at Sunderland when Mark Bunn was sent off.

“What I am sure of is the goalkeeper’s intentions were to play the ball and he knew his momentum would take him out of the box.”