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The Tottenham debutant who shined in Harry Kane’s absence – opinion

Jose Mourinho overcame old adversary Pep Guardiola at the weekend after Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester City 2-0. The visitors dominated proceedings but failed to convert any of their 19 shots, leaving their Spanish manager to concede the title race was over after the match. However, for one Spurs player, it was a day he will never forget as Steven Bergwijn made his Premier League debut and provided a decisive contribution against the reigning Champions.

The nine cap Dutch international provided an eye-catching industrial performance, supporting Japhet Tanganga behind him by making a tackle. Bergwijn also showed precise timing and awareness to register an interception and diligently performing his defensive duties should have impressed his manager, Mourinho.

Although it was further forward where the January arrival stood out during his 69 minutes of action at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, making 17 passes, one more than fellow attacking midfielder Dele Alli, who was substituted at the same time. Furthermore, Bergwijn’s pass success rate of 70.6 percent was significantly greater than his English teammate’s 50 percent, suggesting the 22-year-old was not overwhelmed by magnitude the occasion. Nonetheless, there are still areas for the Dutchman to develop as he failed to find a teammate from his only attempted cross and did not provide a through ball or key pass throughout his debut.

Overshadowing the negatives of Bergwijn and Spurs’ performance though was his sumptuous first goal for the club which broke the deadlock between the two sides. Lucas Moura played a dinked pass to the Dutchman, who guided the ball down with his chest and volleyed a strike past Ederson to put the hosts in front.

The goal was Bergwijn’s only shot of the game and a third of Tottenham’s efforts on target, the other two coming from Son Heung-Min. Another aspect of the 22-year-old’s game which may have impressed his boss was completing one dribble around a Manchester City defender – of the Spurs player’s who started the match, only Moura completed a higher total with three.

Further elements that Bergwijn may require improvement were making two unsuccessful touches and being dispossessed twice. However, it was a spectacular debut from the £27m January signing in their bid to secure Champions League qualification for next season.

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