Tottenham Hotspur will go into Thursday’s Europa League encounter with Roma on the back of one of their greatest Premier League performances in recent years.
Spurs went to the home of reigning champions Manchester City and left with all three points, having stunned the home fans – indeed, the whole of English football – with a 4-0 win.
Tottenham opened the scoring in the 13th minute when Dejan Kulusevski whipped in a simply delightful cross for James Maddison to volley home.
Spurs and Maddison then doubled their lead seven minutes later as he dinked the ball over Ederson following a one-two win Son Heung-min.
Tottenham went out of reach in the 53rd minute when Dominic Solanke teed up Pedro Porro to curl home a powerful effort past the Man City stopper.
And then, three minutes into stoppage time, Brennan Johnson ghosted in at the back post to tap home Timo Werner’s cross and make it 4-0 to the visitors.
Tottenham were superb to a man, but one player in particular took the spotlight with how he did on the day and earned huge praise from Clive Allen.
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Clive Allen says James Maddison gave his best Tottenham display v Man City
The player in question is James Maddison, who emphatically ended all criticism regarding him having been out of the starting XI.
Indeed, Allen had some very strong praise for the England international.
When Allen was asked on Inside Spurs whether Maddison had delivered his best performance in a Tottenham shirt, he replied: “Absolutely.
“And it wasn’t just the two goals that he scored. His contribution – I thought he used all his Premier League experience in the role that he played as a midfield player who defender when he was in possession of the ball.
“He relished the battle. He won free kicks. He was really important with his contribution in terms of defensive display.
“Timing the tackles, just nicks the ball away from Silva, and he did that so many times in the game.
“He had that determination to get away from players. He runs away from Gundogan, brilliant Kulusevski cross and James, as he said post-match, just needed to make the contact and he did.
“His second goal, I thought was absolutely brilliant. He plays the ball to son runs around the back of him where defenders are all concentrated around Sonny.
“His first touch to get it out of his feet and dink it over the goalkeeper was exquisite.”
Maddison’s brace made him the first ever player to score multiple Premier League goals against the reigning champions on his birthday.
His two goals were also the earliest brace that any player has ever scored away from home against the reigning Premier League champions.
Maddison and Tottenham show they can shine against anyone on their day
Tottenham may well have had their ups and downs, but when you go to the home of the reigning – and four-in-a-row – Premier League champions and leave with a 4-0 win, that’s pretty special.
Maddison was very much the catalyst for Spurs on the day, making a mockery of those who wondered whether he could be on the move after not starting two league games.
The Spurs News awarded Maddison a 10 out of 10 for his efforts on the day and hopefully there will be many more performances from him and the team during the busy festive period and beyond.
There are still flaws for Tottenham to iron out against easier opponents on paper, but they’ve shown they literally can beat anyone on their day – and quite convincingly too.
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