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Tottenham manager Nuno Espirito Santo was delighted with the performance of Japhet Tanganga in particular and also reserved praise for Oliver Skipp as his side opened the new Premier League season with victory over champions Manchester City.
Son Heung-min’s curling second-half strike was enough for a Harry Kane-less Spurs to beat Pep Guardiola’s City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Skipp was perhaps a surprise inclusion in midfield alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, while Tanganga started at right-back with Matt Doherty on the bench.
But the pair of academy graduates were excellent as the north Londoners again ousted City on home soil in what was Nuno’s first competitive match as manager.
And the Portuguese was pleased with what he got from the duo, saying in his post-match press conference: “I think [Japhet and Oliver] did well.
“When we started the season they were in the process of recovering from injury but they worked hard on their fitness with their sports science.
“All the team was great today but Japhet was huge. He faced so many one on ones. There is no perfection and probably we will never achieve it, but I’m very proud of the boys.”
Son was the match-winner for Spurs but Nuno actually felt the South Korean goalscorer might have produced a better performance in the first 45 minutes.
He continued: “Sonny is a killer. He did ok but I still feel that in the first half he had actions that in the future he will do better.”
Although Kane was not involved, new signings Bryan Gil and Cristian Romero were in the match-day squad with the latter coming on late on for his debut.
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But Nuno shut down suggestions that England captain Kane’s absence may mean he’s off to City, insisting just as he did pre-match that the reason he was not involved was solely because of how late he joined the club’s pre-season.
Tottenham fans could be heard chanting ‘are you watching Harry Kane?’ as the hosts led 1-0 without the striker, thought to want to join City, late on.
And Nuno said when asked about the chants to Sky Sports: “Look, Harry Kane is one of the best players in the world, honestly. We are very lucky to have him.
“He has to get ready and help the team. We still have to go to Portugal then we think about Wolves.”
He added: “I’m sure that with commitment and the talent we have, we will be a good team.
“We are in the process of that. I am learning every day and I am very proud of them today, very proud.”
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