Leon Osman has claimed that Marcus Edwards’ ‘outstanding’ solo run against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League was ’similar to Maradona’, as he told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport.
Tottenham suffered their first defeat of the season when Sporting Lisbon secured a deserved 2-0 win in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
A number of familiar faces were on show for the crowd because Eric Dier, who has been recalled to the England squad by Garth Southtegte, returned to the place when he grew up and started his career.
Whilst Edwards, who left Spurs two years ago after coming through the club’s academy as one of its brightest prospects, came up against his former side for the first time.
At 23-years-old, the versatile forward is showcasing his magic abroad and one passage of play against Spurs resulted in him picking up the ball near the halfway line, drifting past several players, including putting Dier on his backside, playing a one-two, before seeing his shot saved at point-blank range by Hugo Lloris.
It left former Everton midfielder Osman stunned, as he gave Edwards the highest praise possible when describing his actions.
“That was absolutely outstanding,” said Osman. “I can only describe it similar to Maradona for Argentina against England in 86′.
“He picked the ball up, he turns, there must have been six or seven Spurs players before he found himself inside the penalty, takes it around Romero and then toe-pokes it with his right foot.”
EDWARDS WAS RIGHT TO LEAVE SPURS
The Englishman’s development has been outstanding over the years and it just proves that he was right to make the move.
You never know, perhaps if he stayed in north London, then he probably wouldn’t have developed like he is doing now.
The key thing is for Edwards to continue making the ball talk, developing as a footballer and that knock from a Premier League side will come.
But, in the meantime, he should be praised for showing bravery by moving abroad, being out of his comfort zone and getting his career back on track because, when you are compared to Lionel Messi as a teenager by Mauricio Pochettino, then extra eyes will be on you.
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