Garth Crooks has lavished praise on Dejan Kulusevski for the performance he delivered at the Etihad Stadium, with the Tottenham man finishing the game with a goal and an assist.
Kulusevski started in the number ten role once again after his impressive performance in that position against Aston Villa last week and he was one of the few bright sparks for Tottenham in a relatively timid first-half display.
The Swede set up the away side’s opener as Son Heung-min ran onto his crossfield pass before producing a fierce shot across Ederson, which found its way into the back of the net.
Kulusevski then moved to his more familiar right-wing role in the second half after Ange Postecoglou replaced Bryan Gil with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg at half-time and the Swede was a constant menace for Josko Gvardiol and later Nathan Ake after he replaced the Croat.
(Photo by DARREN STAPLES/AFP via Getty Images)
Dejan Kulusevski was Man of the Match for Spurs
The 23-year-old outmuscled Ake at the far post to meet Brennan Johnson’s cross for Tottenham’s late equaliser, and although replays showed the ball came off his shoulder, Crooks felt that the winger deserved to get the goal.
The former Tottenham man named Kulusevski in his Team of the Week and wrote about him in his BBC Sport column: “It was Kulusevski’s superb through ball that set Son Heung-min free to put Spurs 1-0 up within the first 10 minutes against Manchester City.
“From that moment on, the Sweden international’s game went from strength to strength. If anyone was going to get the equaliser at the end, it was Kulusevski.
“The way the player attacked the ball, and buried Nathan Ake in the bargain, was impressive. All credit to Tottenham – they were prepared to take the European champions on, and they did.
“With Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven in the side, the result might have been different. And that’s the point, isn’t it? Ange Postecoglou can walk away from this game knowing he’s not far away from having a top-four side.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Tottenham desperately needed both Kulusevski and Lo Celso to step up in James Maddison’s absence and both players have done so over the last couple of games. The Swede now appears to have found the kind of form that he showed in his first six months at Spurs.
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