Tottenham 2 QPR 1: Villas-Boas hails ‘important’ win at White Hart Lane

Andre Villas-Boas hailed an “important win” after Tottenham came from behind to beat Queens Park Rangers at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

The visitors were the better side in the first half, and former Tottenham striker Bobby Zamora gave QPR a deserved 33rd-minute lead when he raced on to Alejandro Faurlín’s incisive pass and finished past Brad Friedel.

But QPR were the beneficiaries of Faurlín’s own goal in the 60th minute, moments before before a sweeping Spurs counter-attack was finished by Jermain Defoe, who netted his 199th career goal.

“It was an important win for the players particularly because they really put in the effort in the second half,” Villas-Boas told Spurs’ website.

“The first half didn’t go the way we wanted but the second half did and all credit to the players, they showed the commitment to come back.

“It was important to get that first goal and then from the emotion of the first goal, the second goal happened straight away. That gave us a real boost in confidence.”

He added: “The only thing we did was push the (defensive) line a little further up and close down the gaps for QPR. The players did that brilliantly.

“We went to a 4-4-2, got the first goal back and knew the second would happen straight away.

“The main difference was the players, their belief and desire and all credit to them for coming up strong mentally in the second half.”