Paulo Gazzaniga praised by Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino for display against Crystal Palace but was he actually that good?
Paulo Gazzaniga of Tottenham Hotspur in action during the Premier League match against Crystal Palace.
Paulo Gazzaniga was described as “fantastic” by Mauricio Pochettino following his Tottenham Hotspur debut against Crystal Palace.
The goalkeeper was drafted into the starting XI for the Premier League clash at Wembley Stadium with first and second choice options Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm both injured.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Mauricio Pochettino (L) throws the ball back into play as Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson reacts.
“I think it was fantastic,” Pochettino said in the post-match press conference about Gazzaniga’s performance, as quoted by football.london.
“His debut at Wembley and I think he deserved a lot of praise. He was very calm. He made a few amazing saves. For me he was fantastic.”
Mamadou Sakho of Crystal Palace attempts to head the ball as Paulo Gazzaniga of Tottenham Hotspur attempts to save during the Premier League match.
Gazzaniga did make a number of fine saves to deny the Eagles and there is no denying that the 25-year-old’s reflexes are pretty good, but did those paper over the cracks of an erratic display?
Early on Palace should have been given a penalty when the ‘keeper rushed off his line to try and stop Mamadou Sakho connecting with a cross, only to get there too late and clatter the defender with both his forearm and knee.
Then in the second half Gazzaniga came out once more to attempt to close down a marauding Wilfried Zaha, again misjudging the situation as the winger won the footrace but then put his shot wide with the goal gaping.
There were also a few efforts on goal that the Argentine seemed to get wrong in his judgement of how close they actually were. It wasn’t a terrible performance, but it wasn’t one that should be troubling Lloris or Vorm, either.
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