Dele Alli hailed Tottenham's "big statement" following their superb 2-0 victory over Manchester City at White Hart Lane.
Sunday's contest pitted the last two unbeaten Premier League teams against one another with City having won each of their six league matches under Pep Guardiola.
But Tottenham were rewarded for a slick and industrious display as a comical own goal from Aleksandar Kolarov and Alli's cool finish saw Mauricio Pochettino's men close to within a point of City at the summit.
"It's massive. I think it's a big statement from us. We knew what we're capable of, we knew we'd have chances if we stuck to our game plan and it took it to them," Alli told Sky Sports.
"They're a great team and they'll be up there but we showed what we're made of.
"It's massive going into the international break - no one wants to go into that on the back of a loss, it's important we keep going."
Team-mate Victor Wanyama was one of a number of Spurs players to excel in front of their home supporters and the midfielder says the team were rewarded for their hard work.
"We knew it was going to be a tough game," he added. "We showed how solid we are and how compact we are.
"I'm happy to take three points. We knew we had to work hard, we enjoy working hard, when it comes to games we have to work extra hard. The hard work paid off."
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