Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou looks on during the Carabao Cup third round match between Coventry City and Tottenham Hotspur at the Coventry Building Society Arena on September 18, 2024 in Coventry, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Ange Postecoglou has praised striker Dominic Solanke after he finally scored his first Tottenham Hotspur goal.
The Spurs completed the Signing of Solanke for 55 million pounds from Bournemouth in August in a move they hoped would eventually replace Harry Kane, who left for Bayern Munich last summer.
Solanke caught the eye with 21 goals in all competitions last season, including 19 in 38 Premier League appearances.
However, the 26-year-old suffered a slow start to life at Tottenham, failing to score or assist in each of his first three appearances for the club.
But Solanke finally broke through when he equalized in the eighth minute of Tottenham’s 3-1 win over Brentford on Saturday after the Bees had taken an early lead.
The former Liverpool and Chelsea man was on hand to fire home the rebound after James Maddison’s initial effort was kept out by Brentford stopper Mark Flekken.
Dominic Solanke has scored his first goal for Tottenham Hotspur pic.twitter.com/Dg0GTQ4PU3
— The Spurs Web (@thespursweb) September 21, 2024
Ange praises Solanke ‘very strongly’ after Spurs opener
Spurs continued to assert their dominance from there, with Brennan Johnson and Maddison adding the extras to seal the three points, while the Lilywhites finished the game with 23 shots and 3.51xG compared to just six and 0.58, respectively, from Brentford.
Speaking to reporters after Saturday’s game, Postecoglou praised Solanke not only for his goal but also his work rate and overall performance since arriving at Tottenham.
“Yeah, I mean, again Dom’s still working to match the fitness. You saw at the end there, he was out of gas. We wanted to get him out a little earlier, but we needed that third goal to end the game.” said Postecoglou (via Football. London).
He continued: “But he was good again, I think he’s been good in every game he’s played for us, and as you say, strikers love to score goals and yeah, a great moment for him to score his first goal for the club, especially at home.
“But other than that, again it was a really strong performance from him. I thought he led the line really well, important for us today as a link up there because we knew they were going to be pretty aggressive on a mark man-to-man and that he would have to hold the ball for us and I. I thought he did really well.”
Top photo by David Rogers/Getty Images
