Dele Alli caught the eye of Jose Mourinho as Tottenham strolled to a 4-0 win over Ludogorets in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho heaped praise on ‘team player’ Dele Alli after he starred in his side’s 4-0 win over Ludogorets.
The 24-year-old was making his first appearance since October 29 when he was taken off at half-time in Spurs’ 1-0 defeat to Royal Antwerp.
That poor outing saw Alli drop further down the pecking order at the north London club following a summer where he was subject of exit talks. However, he was handed a rare start against the Bulgarian outfit; his fourth start of the season.
Alli was responsible for the pass that helped Carlos Vinicius open his account for Spurs. The 24-year-old selflessly cut back for the Brazilian to score again in the 34th minute when he could have shot at goal after Tanguy Ndombele saw his effort denied.
He also played a part in Lucas Moura’s goal with a fine cross into the area, and it capped a fine night for the Lilywhites.
The pick of the night was a goal from Harry Winks who scored with a lob from near the halfway line before he later admitted it was an overhit pass.
After the game, Alli was one of the players singled out by Mourinho for a good performance.
“That’s the team,” Mourinho said as quoted by Football.London.
“Dele could try to score but for Vinicius, it was an easy goal. A team player does that. No risk and 2-0. It doesn’t surprise me that he did that.”
“Dele was like the team. A very good first half. In the second half in the first 20 to 25 minutes, they closed and tried not to concede more goals.”
“We became a little bit more passive and we never really felt the threat of a possible goal… and we let it go a little bit down.”
Alli will be hoping his performance will convince Mourinho to give him more minutes in the Premier League as well.
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