The Ange Postecoglou revolution continues at Tottenham Hotspur, with the 58-year-old having overseen a fourth successive Premier League victory to maintain his facet inside touching distance of leaders Manchester Metropolis.
Confronted with a struggling Sheffield United facet who had picked up only a level heading into Saturday’s encounter, it appeared prefer it may very well be one other routine victory for the Lilywhites, having hit fellow newly-promoted facet Burnley for 5 previous to the worldwide break.
It might, nonetheless, show to be a far harder check because it was the guests who ultimately broke the impasse with lower than 20 minutes left to play, with summer time signing Gustavo Hamer powering his facet right into a shock lead in north London.
To their credit score, the in-form hosts responded spectacularly with two objectives on the loss of life to clinch all three factors, with Dejan Kulusveski finishing the comeback within the final knockings of added time to spark bedlam contained in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Swede’s rifled, right-footed effort had been teed up by substitute sensation, Richarlison, with the Brazilian enigma having been the person to pull his facet degree simply minutes earlier with a thumping, front-post header.
For all of the speak of the 26-year-old’s lack of affect in a Tottenham shirt thus far – with that having been simply his second league objective throughout the final 12 months – that late cameo illustrated the position that the previous Everton man can play in Postecoglou’s attacking ranks.
It additionally seems to be as if there stays a must maintain Ivan Persic concerned in proceedings regardless of the Croatian’s advancing years, with the 34-year-old having additionally performed a “key position” off the bench – as per soccer.london’s Alasdair Gold.
How did Ivan Perisic carry out in opposition to Sheffield United?
It’s honest to say that the previous Inter Milan man did not precisely set the world alight final season underneath Antonio Conte, with The Athletic’s James Maw even going so far as to counsel that the wing-back might be “remembered as an enormous waste of cash”, regardless of signing on a free switch.
Even amid these woes, the previous World Cup finalist did nonetheless showcase his attacking high quality after registering a squad-high tally of eight assists within the top-flight final time period, whereas additionally creating 11 ‘huge probabilities’ from his 34 outings.
Now primarily deployed in a extra superior berth on the flanks, the skilled asset has proven that he can proceed to make an affect in moments within the present marketing campaign, as was evident in his position as a late substitute immediately.
Regardless of solely making 17 touches – and squandering possession on seven events – the £180k-per-week veteran did present the help for Richarlison’s equaliser with a pleasant whipped nook, earlier than once more discovering the Brazilian within the build-up to Kulusevski’s last-gasp strike with a intelligent flick not far away.
Not solely an actual weapon from the flanks – as he tried six crosses in whole in that transient show – Perisic was additionally in a position to contribute defensively after profitable all three of his whole duels, as Spurs went in pursuit of victory.
Whereas it’s unlikely that the wideman might be that includes too commonly from the beginning this season with the likes of Heung-min Son, Manor Solomon and Brennan Johnson all within the image, such a game-changing efficiency has proven that Postecoglou can flip to him when wanted to affect matches off the bench.
As for the north Londoners as a collective, such an exciting finale has ensured that the constructive momentum continues at N17, forward of subsequent week’s north London derby.