Tottenham Hotspur beat Southampton 4-1 on Saturday afternoon with Dejan Kulusevski stealing the show in a superb performance.
Big things are expected of Tottenham this season but fans will have been forgiven for thinking the hype wouldn’t amount to much after an early blow.
James Ward-Prowse produced a superb volley to put Southampton in front in North London, threatening to spring a major shock on Antonio Conte’s side.
That’s as good as it got for Southampton though as Tottenham roared back with a thumping win.
Tottenham Hotspur beat Southampton 4-1
Dejan Kulusevski crossed for Ryan Sessegnon to level it up before Eric Dier headed in Son Heung-min’s cross.
A comical Mohammed Salisu own goal made it 3-1 before Kulusevski got his name on the scoresheet with Tottenham’s fourth.
The Swede was simply magnificent throughout and underlined his importance with a dominant display.
For so long, Tottenham’s attack has been all about Son Heung-min and Harry Kane, with bit-part characters playing a role in recent years.
Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn spring to mind, but Kulusevski is turning this dangerous duo into a terrifying trio.
Kulusevski, a January signing from Juventus, has taken the Premier League by storm thought 2022.
Six goals and nine assists in 21 games for Tottenham is simply outstanding from Kulusevski, who has made that right-wing spot his own.
There were murmurings that Kulusevski could be dropped in favour of summer signing Richarlison, but those noises have become very, very quiet.
Pundit Aaron McLean – often seen on Sky Sports and BT Sport – has now had his say, taking to Twitter to joke that he wants a public apology from anybody who wanted Richarlison in the team over Kulusevski.
McLean even added that he would lose all respect for anybody who can’t see Kulusevski’s superiority over the Brazilian, which is an opinion that many Tottenham fans will share after Saturday’s superb showing.
That’s not even to say that Richarlison is a bad player; far from it.
It’s just that Kulusevski looks truly special and taking him out of the team is just unthinkable even spending so much on Richarlison.
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