Dejan Kulusevski reveals 'crazy' James Maddison comment Spurs executed to perfection at Man City
Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham side displayed their quality with four outstanding goals in their 4-0 triumph at Manchester City on Saturday evening. James Maddison put Tottenham on their way to victory with a brilliant first-half double, before goals from Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson in the second half completed the demolition at the Etihad Stadium.
In regards to Tottenham's first of the night, Radu Dragusin and Dejan Kulusevski had a big part to play in Maddison's well-executed strike. Firstly seeing the Romanian centre-back pick out Kulusevski on the right flank with a precise long ball, the Swede then used his strength to get the better of Josko Gvardiol.
What Tottenham's No.21 did next was superb as he cut inside on to his left foot and put the ball on a plate for Maddison to convert from six yards. As impressive as the inswinging delivery was from Kulusevski, Maddison's determined run from the middle of the park to get beyond Ilkay Gundogan and then between Kyle Walker and John Stones in the area was just as good.
It was Tottenham at their very best and the goal in fact all came from a pre-match conversation between Maddison and Kulusevski. Speaking to SPURSPLAY after the game, the goalscorer revealed all.
"Two different goals in a way," he said on his double at the Etihad. "I actually said to Kulu before the game, because obviously he hasn't played on the wing as much lately, but being left-footed on the right wing with his ability when he cuts in I can make that run from that left half-space, that left pocket area from midfield.
"Because I'm running from deep it's hard for the backline to pick me up. I've done it a few times this season from passes from [Cristian] Romero and deeper when I make that run in from behind but I haven't actually scored. I have been getting chances from it so I knew one was going to come soon. It was a brilliant ball, I didn't even have to break stride, so credit to Kulu.
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"The second one was good link-up with Sonny. We won it high up, I passed it to him and I thought it would be cleverer to run around him rather than underneath him, which we do quite a lot, just because I had seen Kyle Walker was just a little bit high.
"I found a tiny little bit of space in the box and managed to execute a nice little delicate one over Ederson. Really happy with the two finishes. I always judge myself on goals and assists as an attacking player so yeah happy."
Kulusevski also spoke to SPURSPLAY after the game and opened up on the talk he had with Maddison not long before the game.
"Maddison told me just before the game to look for me when cutting inside. Crazy but exactly that happened," he admitted. "The ball was perfect and the finish was good. But it's still hard when leading 1-0, but after 2-0 we really got on top and we defended really good.
"I think Ben Davies and Dragusin were unbelievable, with Pedro and Destiny so unbelievable protecting the crosses. This is the standard, this is how we have to play every game. If not, we're just stupid. We just have to keep this level because when we play like this it's a joy for the world."
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