The two former Eredivisie stars were goalscorers during Tottenham Hotspur’s 5-0 win in the League Cup.
Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen applauds fans
Tottenham Hotspur’s 5-0 demolition of Gillingham this week was positive for a whole host of reasons, with academy and first team players alike impressing, but one incident in particular, as reported by ESPN, is a sure sign of the solidarity at the club at present.
Undeniably, a huge plus for Mauricio Pochettino’s side was summer signing Vincent Janssen getting off the mark for the club, as he converted a penalty to make it 3-0.
But, captain for the night Christian Eriksen has revealed to ESPN that he had thought for a moment about claiming his own milestone, having scored the two earlier goals.
Tottenham’s Vincent Janssen celebrates scoring their third goal with team mates
The Dane has never scored a hat trick in club football, though earlier this year had netted a treble for his country, but he quickly spurned the chance to pull rank to allow Janssen to score his first Spurs goal.
“I did think about it but I saw on Vincent’s face and in his body language that he really wanted, it and you can feel for a striker,” Eriksen is quoted as saying by ESPN.
“And it is not as important for me. Two or three goals, it doesn’t really matter. We had so many chances and we should have scored a few each in the first half, so I was happy for him also and he did say thank you also so it was a good one.
“Also especially today in the first half he had a lot of shots. I think normally he would have scored, but he was a bit relaxed after that and I think if you give him a penalty there is no better chance for a striker to score an easy goal.”
Eriksen’s gesture is indicative of the kind of team ethic that has seen Spurs go from strength to strength under Pochettino. As captain, the former Ajax man would have been well within his right to grab the glory with his first ever hat trick for the club, but he quickly understood that Janssen netting was good for the player and much more important to the team’s confidence.
Tottenham’s Vincent Janssen scores their third goal from the penalty spot
The Dutchman is set to fill in for Harry Kane over the next few weeks, and he will do so with that little more confidence having already hit the back of the net from the spot.
Encouragingly for Spurs and ominously for this weekend’s opponents Middlesbrough, he and Eriksen linked up well throughout the match, and both were massive attacking threats.
It’ll be interesting to see who takes a penalty on Teesside this weekend should the Londoners be awarded one.
Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen in action with Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson
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