Gary Neville was full of praise for the way Dejan Kulusevski performed up against Rodri as Tottenham Hotspur clawed a 3-3 draw away from home at Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday.
Even without that last-gasp equaliser – Dejan Kulusevski scoring for the third game in a row away at Manchester City with a brilliant header at the death – this felt like a statement performance from Tottenham’s silky Swede.
Deployed in a more central role than we are used to seeing, the former Juventus youngster stood out head and shoulders even on a pitch containing such attacking illuminaries as Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku.
It was Kulusevski’s lofted through ball which set up Heung-Min Son’s early opener, while the job he did on Rodri in the centre of the park both on and off the ball was integral to Ange Postecoglou’s game-plan.
Tottenham stun Manchester City
“He’s done it a couple of times, Kulusevski, getting on the ball and skipping past Rodri. You don’t see too many doing that in the centre of midfield,” former Manchester United and England defender Neville said during Sky Sports’ live coverage (3rd December, 4.30pm).
“Kulusevski is doing a really good job in there.”
The £25 million acquisition was deployed in the middle of the park alongside the rejuvenated Giovani lo Celso by Postecoglou, impressing not only with his use of the ball and his decision making in the final third but also with the man-marking role he performed so effectively up against perhaps the greatest defensive midfielder in the game.
And, with that 90th minute effort, Kulusevski became only the second player – after former Spurs midfielder Danny Murphy – to score in three straight Premier League games at the Etihad Stadium.
Dejan Kulusevski equals record for Spurs
That eventual 3-3 draw, meanwhile, ensured that Tottenham avoided becoming the first team in the competition’s history to lose four in a row after going unbeaten in their first ten. The gap between Spurs and the Champions League spots, meanwhile, stays at just two points.
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