Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson scored headed goals either side of half-time in a comfortable win for the hosts, with Pochettino desperate for a big reaction after three games without victory.
Spurs were well and truly found wanting and Ange Postecoglou’s frustrations bubbled over as he was captured losing his temper with Cristian Romero and Pape Matar Sarr towards the end of lacklustre first-half display from the visitors.
Making only his second start in the Premier League, Chelsea academy product Gilchrist, 20, impressed on the right side of Pochettino’s defence, keeping Son Heung-min relatively quiet on the night.
Speaking to Sky Sports shortly after the final whistle, Pochettino stressed that every one of his players deserved ‘full credit’ for their impressive performance before specifically name-checking Madueke for his contribution in helping out Gilchrist.
‘We enjoyed it. If you win the game then you enjoy more,’ the Chelsea head coach said.
‘We have some positive things, not too many, that always we believe and we trust in our players and even with the circumstances that we were in today, we really believed that it was an opportunity to show that we believe in what we’re doing, in our ideas and philosophy.
‘Yes, facing a team like Tottenham is never easy and it’s a derby, we understand that it’s a derby, but today was fantastic.
‘Full credit to the players. Full, full credit because of the way they approached the game, the way they approached the first half, their efforts, the way that we defended, the way that we tried to play… I think it’s fantastic.
‘It’s my first time in the season, I think, that I really feel so, so happy because it’s the moment that after ten months, the team really start to realise how we need to compete and today we competed really well.’
Asked whether the display was the best he had seen during his reign, Pochettino replied: ‘I don’t know if it’s our best performance but the most important thing is the feeling with all the circumstances, negative circumstances.
‘That showed that we’re doing things well but also was the click to say: we need to compete better but how? Be connected with the game.
‘If you see today, Noni Madueke was amazing in the way, the effort that he helped the full-back.
‘The midfielders, the whole team was in both phases was connected.’
Later on, at his post-match press conference, the Argentine hailed his team’s showing amid a mini injury crisis before again singling out Madueke for what he described as an ‘unbelievable’ performance.
‘We were talking a lot with Jesus [Perez], the group of players didn’t suffer an injury and you can see today the way they work,’ Pochettino explained.
‘We suffered some different injuries for different circumstances so we were not able to work with the whole team. It is not easy to create a competitive group of players to go to the pitch feeling 100 per cent in their best form. In the last few weeks, we are trying to find this balance.
‘Noni Madueke today, unbelievable. He did a fantastic job with the ball and without the ball. He helped Alfie defend and that is what we needed for the future to build this spirit, very competitive.’
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