Antonio Conte will be impressed with his Tottenham side's start to the season, with Spurs winning four and drawing two of their opening fixtures. Their most recent clash saw two goals disallowed, but the Lilywhites still secured a 2-1 victory against Fulham.
The Italian had made five changes to the starting XI at the London Stadium, where Tottenham drew 1-1 to West Ham. Conte needed his players to improve on their last few performances, which lacked urgency and energy.
That is exactly what Spurs managed in N17, with a cohesive team performance and solid individual displays. Clement Lenglet made his Premier League debut, whilst Richarlison got his first start in a Tottenham shirt and both didn't fail to impress.
READ MORE: Every word Antonio Conte said on Richarlison, Clement Lenglet, Son training struggles and Kane
Conte was up and down the touchline throughout the match, as he usually is. The 53-year-old showed his frustration at missed shots and delight when Tottenham scored, even for the two disallowed goals and football.london takes a closer look at what was noticed during the clash.
Ryan Sessegnon reaction
Sessegnon produced a solid display at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, working hard down the left flank. The youngster had six shots at goal, produced five crosses and three tackles, highlighting his impact at both ends of the field.
However, only two of his shots were on target and Conte didn't shy away from showing his disappointment when the wing-back missed the target. Son Heung-min passed the ball to Sessegnon, who tried to curl the ball into the back of the net.
The shot narrowly missed and the Italian jumped in the air and shouted in frustration, with his hand over his face. Conte has a similar reaction when Sessegnon had another missed opportunity.
This time Emerson Royal crossed the ball in, which went right passed Harry Kane and Richarlison missed it, meaning it fell to the 22-year-old. Sessegnon turned and had a shot, but it again went wide.
Before the wing-back took the shot, Conte had his hands behind his head and when the ball went out, his hands were back covering his face again.
Shirts flying
There was disappointment for Richarlison when he thought he had scored his first goal for Tottenham, only for it to be ruled out for offside. The Brazilian had produced a solid performance, in his first start for Spurs and scoring would've topped it off.
You could see what it meant to him, as he ran over to the home fans and took his top off in celebration, which he did get a yellow card for. However he then had to face the disappointment of the goal being disallowed.
Shirts were also flapping on the sideline as another missed chance caused Conte to flap his t-shirt up and down in anger, something the Italian isn't often seen doing.
Message to Richarlison
Richarlison's solid display was also highlighted by his statistics, with his three shots, four key passes and four crosses. The Brazilian has not only impressed as a new arrival and settled in well to the Tottenham squad, he is also providing Conte with the ability to rotate his attacking trio.
This means that Kane, Son and Dejan Kulusevski will be able to get a rest this season, which will be needed, with the number of games that are scheduled. The Italian often shouts instructions to his side during the game and this was seen on Saturday.
Richarlison got the ball back off a Fulham player, in the attacking half and after bringing the ball down the line with two touches, crossed it into the box. The ball fell to Eric Dier, who happened to be in the box, but his shot flew over the goal.
When the Brazilian got the ball, Conte clapped and then immediately pointed and seemed to shout "now" three times. Pierre Emile Hojbjerg was in space just behind him and a number of Spurs players were making their way into the box.
It wasn't clear who the Tottenham boss was pointing at, but he definitely had a plan for Richarlison and although it didn't end in a goal, it shows the guidance Conte offers on the sideline.
Harry Kane talk
Kane added another goal to his tally against Fulham and produced a solid display. The England captain did what he has been doing so well, getting into good positions in front of goal and dropping deeper to help create chances for his teammates.
The striker had three shots at goal, made three key passes and 85.7 per cent passing accuracy. A stoppage in the game allowed Tottenham to grab a quick drink and it also gave Conte the chance to have a quick chat with his players.
It was Kane who the Italian seemed to target for a quick chat. It wasn't clear what Conte was saying to the 29-year-old, but it didn't look like any anger and was likely to be further encouragement.
The England captain was taken off and replaced by Kulusevski in the 78th minute and Conte gave him a firm handshake and embraced as he came off the pitch, likely a sign of acknowledgement for his solid performance.
Conte's full-time actions
Depending on the result, the Italian will sometimes go straight down the tunnel after the final whistle, but he will often stay to show his appreciation to his fans and players. The latter happened on Saturday and first up, Conte went and shook the hands of his coaching staff in the dugout.
He then made his way onto the pitch, with Tottenham's clip showing him hugging Hojbjerg, Royal and Kane. Conte seemed to have an almost aggressive look on his face, perhaps replicating and showing appreciation for the aggression his side showed on the pitch.
After the game the Italian highlighted the room for improvement, but seemed to be happy overall, with the display. "For sure the performance, yeah I like the performance," he said.
"Also against Southampton we had a good performance. If I have to find a situation that we need to improve, it is to be more clinical because when you create so many chances, you have to score but we scored two goals disallowed, then the crossbar.
"Yeah, I enjoyed a lot to see my players play the ball with quality and personality. Also to see the three strikers, Richy, Harry and Sonny, work very hard for the team with the ball and without the ball. They give us a lot of quality with the ball and a lot of danger for the opponent because they moved very well and yeah, I am really pleased for our performance today," Conte added.
Things are going well for Spurs, but it is now about keeping consistency in the league and making a good start, for their first Champions League fixture on Wednesday.
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