Dejan Kulusevski praises two Tottenham stars who were ‘unbelievable’ in 4-1 loss vs Chelsea

Dejan Kulusevski praises two Tottenham Hotspur stars who were ‘unbelievable’ in 4-1 loss vs Chelsea

Tottenham Hotspur star Dejan Kulusevski praised Guglielmo Vicario and Eric Dier for their performances in the 4-1 Premier League loss at home against Chelsea.

Micky van de Ven’s signing relegated Dier to the bench, so much so that the England international didn’t play a single minute of football this season before the game against Chelsea.

But he came on the pitch after Cristian Romero’s 35th-minute red card to give Spurs a lot of stability at the back and even scored a goal which was later ruled out by VAR. Cole Palmer’s penalty was all Chelsea had on the scoreboard even 20 minutes after Destiny Udogie’s 55th-minute red card.

Vicario, meanwhile, has been brilliant throughout the season. The 27-year-old Italian international seems to be a great replacement for Hugo Lloris in goal and put up a great performance against the Blues.

Deki praises Spurs duo

Speaking after the game, Kulusevski said (h/t Football.London):

“You saw Eric Dier, he came in, did his first appearance and was unbelievable, so the guys are ready. We did for sure [play a high line]. I think we created a lot of chances and Eric Dier score a goal that in the end was offside, but then we had great opportunity with both Bentancur and Sonny. So, we created three chances and Vicario was unbelievable in the goal.”

Vicario, as per FotMob, made three saves during the game, had eight recoveries, and acted as a sweeper six times. Considering Spurs played a very high line, the Italian did well to help out his defenders.

He dove the correct way for Palmer’s penalty and could have arguably saved it had he got a stronger hand to it. In the former Empoli man’s defence, the penalty was very well hit and placed into the extreme corner of the goal.

And for the Nicolas Jackson hat-trick that followed, there wasn’t much that the Spurs goalkeeper could have done. Perhaps he could have prevented the Senegal international’s third goal when he dribbled the ball past him.

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But that is easier said than done in 1v1 situations. As for Dier, one can imagine he will be very, very crucial in the coming weeks in Romero and Van de Ven’s absence.