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Exceptional: This Spurs player made Jose Mourinho’s first home game a night to remember

Tottenham Hotspur completed a dramatic turnaround in Tuesday night’s Champions League game against Olympiakos, coming from two goals down to win 4-2.

Though Jose Mourinho will rightfully get praise for his early substitution removing Eric Dier and introducing Christian Eriksen after 28 minutes, it was one of Tottenham’s English attacking midfielders who made the difference for the Portuguese coach in his first home game at the helm of the north London side.

Dele Alli ignited the comeback after capitalising on a defensive error from Yassine Meriah, in first-half stoppage time to buoy Spurs confidence for the second half and probably alter the tone of Jose Mourinho’s team talk.

Later on, he then assisted Serge Aurier’s goal with a cross which took a small flick from Son Heung-Min to put Tottenham ahead with 17 minutes remaining. It was one of only two crosses Alli played in the match and the only accurate one. Still, the delivery to the back post provided the perfect opportunity, and Aurier didn’t hesitate to take it.

While Alli’s goal may have had an air of fortune about it, his positioning was spot on in the centre of the box, peeling off his marker to earn a yard of space; had the cross been a better one he may not have had to rely on a defensive mistake. Regardless of the circumstances, Alli’s goal was his only shot of the game, and he displayed clinical finishing under pressure from two defenders to sweep in from close range.

Defensively the England midfielder played a vital role in overturning the two early goals Spurs conceded, he made a joint team-high number of tackles, three, along with Harry Winks and Davinson Sanchez.

Once he had recovered possession, Alli kept possession to a high standard with a 75.8% completion and attempted to progress the ball forwards making a single crucial pass. Another aspect of his performance which transformed the fortunes of his side was winning two aerials. Aside from Harry Kane, no other non-defensive player for Spurs won as many duels with opponents in the air.

Alongside Tottenham’s number 20, Kane, Eriksen’s and Aurier all had a fantastic evening as part of Mourinho’s first game in charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The atmosphere could have been incredibly flat, but having a sharp positional sense, as well as a delivery which spotted Aurier in space at the back post meant it was a night to remember for Dele Alli and Tottenham.

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