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Football London
Football London
Sport
Rob Guest

What Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur did for Tottenham highlights Paratici masterstroke

Harry Kane may have dominated the headlines following his outstanding display at Manchester City but a number of Antonio Conte's team deserve huge praise for their role in Tottenham's incredible 3-2 win.

Having to remain strong across the 90 minutes with the Premier League champions putting them under intense pressure at times, the back three of Cristian Romero, Eric Dier and Ben Davies caught the eye with perfect performances to keep Raheem Sterling and Co at bay.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, on his return to the Spurs team, frustrated the hosts throughout and looked more like his old self, with Son Heung-min once again causing a host of problems for Pep Guardiola's team with his movement, skill and running.

Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski, Tottenham's two January transfer additions, also had a huge say on the game and demonstrated why exactly they were brought to the club from Juventus by Fabio Paratici.

Bentancur made some vital tackles at times to disrupt City and also showed good touches in the middle of the park, most notably his ball over the top to release Kulusevski down the flank for Kane's winner.

The Swedish international was also instrumental to the victory after scoring the opener and teeing up the final goal of the game as he put in a pinpoint cross for Tottenham's main man to head home.

Operating as one of two No.10s behind Kane, City just couldn't live with his movement and intelligent play as he linked up incredibly well with the England captain and Son time and time again.

Speaking in his post-match press conference after the game, Conte told football.london that the ex-Juventus man played an "amazing game" at the Etihad.

Dejan Kulusevski made his first start and scored his first goal for Tottenham against Man City. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)

"But today to speak about only one player is very difficult for me because every single player they made a fantastic performance," said the Italian.

"For sure, Kulusevski played an amazing game. He’s only 21 years old, but despite this, he has good experience, because when you play with Juventus you have to manage a lot of pressure in Italy.

"He’s a good signing for us. He's strong physically, good technically.

"It’s very difficult to speak about only one player. Sonny was fantastic today. Harry… I think to speak about Harry’s performance, what can I tell you about him? (Laughs) He was fantastic. But the two midfielders, the defensive line, the keeper, it was good. The people that came in from the bench. For sure when you win against Manchester City it means you played a perfect game."

Signed on the final day of the transfer window from Juventus, a handful of supporters had commented about Paratici only returning to his old club for the duo after failing to bring anyone else in during the month.

Deals for both earlier in the window rather than in the final few hours before the deadline may have sat better with some supporters, but Conte made it clear in his first press conference that his squad was now "more complete" following the signings.

With Bentancur making an immediate impression off the bench against Brighton & Hove Albion and Southampton, Kulusevski did ok in his first few Spurs appearances but perhaps didn't leave the mark his teammate did during his pitch time.

However, that all changed on Saturday at the Etihad in a performance that has left Tottenham fans wanting so much more.

As per Opta Data (via Reddit), Kulusevski covered 13.005km in his time on the pitch, recorded the most amount of sprints with a total of 20 and also made 408 intensive runs.

Bentancur's numbers were equally impressive as he covered 13.074km across the game and made 351 intensive runs.

Tottenham may now be "weaker numerically" as Conte put it in his pre-match press conference on Friday but "more complete" following the arrivals of Bentancur and Kulusevski coupled with the deadline day departures of Dele Alli, Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Bryan Gil.

Conte wants players at Tottenham who are committed and will work extremely hard for the cause and that's exactly what he has got in his two new signings if Saturday's running stats are anything to go by.

Both have made an immediate impression in their first three weeks at the club and plenty more is still to come from them as they get used to the pace and intensity of the Premier League and acclimatise to their new surroundings.

Not always seeing their transfer acquisitions take off and hit the heights at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium over the past few years, Paratici may have handed Conte an incredible gift in Bentancur and Kulusevski.

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