Antonio Conte hails Lucas Moura as one of the best players at Tottenham Hotspur after he scored their winner against West Ham in the Carabao Cup, via quotes by football.london.
Spurs edged their London rivals 2-1 at home on Wednesday to secure a place in back-to-back semi-finals. Steven Bergwijn had put the hosts ahead after 29-minutes with his first goal of the season, but Jarrod Bowen replied within three-minutes to pull the Irons level.
Yet Tottenham broke West Ham’s resistance again to regain the lead when Lucas slotted in two-minutes later. The Brazilian has now scored four goals in 21 games, and offered three assists, in all competitions this term. Three of his goals have come in eight under Conte.
Bergwijn produced a fine run to beat Manuel Lanzini and create Lucas’ decisive goal against West Ham. But Tottenham’s celebrations may have been short-lived if VAR was in use, after Sergio Reguilon appeared to obstruct Alphonse Areola’s view from an offside position.
Conte hails Lucas after Tottenham’s winner over West Ham
Conte recalled Lucas to his starting line-up for Tottenham’s Carabao Cup clash with West Ham. The Italian had dropped Mauricio Pochettino’s £23m arrival from Paris Saint-Germain in 2018 for Sunday’s Premier League clash with Liverpool. Instead, he fielded Harry Winks.
Lucas had opened all four of Spurs’ prior top-flight fixtures under the former Chelsea boss. Yet Conte only played the 29-year-old for the last nine-minutes of their draw with the Reds.
Conte may have had one eye on West Ham when he benched Lucas for Liverpool’s trip to Tottenham. As in came the Brazilian and Bergwijn in place of Heung-Min Son and Dele Alli.
Conte has also now lauded what the £80k-a-week Lucas offers Tottenham after his game-winning goal against West Ham.
He said: “Lucas Moura is one of the best players in our squad. He links quality with quantity and he’s also a wonderful person. You always find on him a smile and I love to work with these types of players.”
Along with scoring, Lucas came close to helping Tottenham break the deadlock early on against West Ham. He lifted a delightful pass into Harry Kane, but Areola saved his shot.
Lucas was full of bright ideas against West Ham and scored Tottenham’s second having got himself into the right position – regardless of Reguilon’s presence – to delight Conte.
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