Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte has praised winger Dejan Kulusevski after his ‘amazing’ performance against Manchester City.
Conte made a bold decision to stick Kulusevski into the starting lineup on Saturday evening.
A deadline day signing from Juventus, Kulusevski was making his first start for Tottenham away at the Premier League champions.
That’s hardly ideal, but Kulusevski showed no nerves.
Within minutes, the Swede had found the net as he nutmegged Joao Cancelo to slot home from Son Heung-min’s pass.
With that goal, Kulusevski became the first Swede to score for Tottenham in a Premier League game since Erik Edman.
Ilkay Gundogan’s leveller didn’t deter Tottenham as Harry Kane restored the lead, only for a Riyad Mahrez penalty to seemingly break Spurs hearts.
Oh, how quickly things can change in football though, as Kulusevski then picked out Kane to bury a header into the net for a dramatic winner.
Kulusevski had a huge goal in the first and last goals, making a major impact on his first start for Tottenham.
Conte will now be desperate to see Kulusevski enjoy a great end to the season having brought real fireworks on Saturday.
Speaking to Football London after the final whistle, Conte heaped praise on Kulusevski after an ‘amazing’ display at the Etihad Stadium.
Conte praised the signing of Kulusevski whilst hailing his physicality and technical ability, seemingly believing that the winger is the full package for Tottenham.
“But today to speak about only one player is very difficult for me because every single player they made a fantastic performance,” said Conte. “For sure, Kulusevski played an amazing game. He’s only 21 years old, but despite this, he has good experience, because when you play with Juventus you have to manage a lot of pressure in Italy.”
“He’s a good signing for us. He’s strong physically, good technically,” he added.
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