Mauricio Pochettino describes Mousa Dembele as a footballing 'genius' after north London derby display

Dembele won the penalty for the equaliser and was named man of the match

Dembele was awarded man of the match

Mauricio Pochettino has described midfielder Mousa Dembele as a ‘genius’ after he won Tottenham a penalty during his man-of-the-match display in the north London derby against Arsenal on Sunday.

The Belgian won the midfield battle for his side at the Emirates as Spurs clawed themselves back from Kevin Wimmer’s own goal to draw 1-1 and keep their unbeaten Premier League record safe.

Dembele has been restricted to only four Premier League appearances so far this season because of injury but earned the penalty that Harry Kane gratefully converted after he was felled by Laurent Koscielny following a powerful run.

And Pochettino praised his industry throughout the 90 minutes, having gone into the game a fitness doubt after limping off in the first half of Wednesday’s Champions League tie with Bayer Leverkusen at Wembley.

“Dembele is a genius,” said Pochettino. “He's a genius. He played only 20 minutes against Leverkusen and today he was one of the best.

“The moment to win the penalty was fantastic, and then it was an open game. We both could have scored. But for me to finish this month, I'm very happy. It's been very tough for us.

"We showed a strong performance from the whole team. It was a very competitive game and it was a very good game to watch."

While Dembele made the game and Harry Kane managed over 70 minutes on his return from nearly two months out injured, it was not all good news as Kyle Walker limped off and Dele Alli missed out altogether with a knee injury.

"Walker I don't know - I haven't had time to see him. He's with the doctor. Alli has suffered a minor problem in his knee," said Pochettino.

“Dele Alli suffered a minor problem in his knee, clashed during the tactical session yesterday, and twisted his knee a bit.

“It's a minor problem, but it was common sense for me to rest him and get him to stay at home.”

Both players were consequently left out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the games with Scotland and Spain.