Tottenham Hotspur continued their incredible start to the season by beating Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
Spurs looked impressive when they smashed Burnley in their opening game, but nobody really gave them much credit because the Clarets weren’t great.
On Saturday, however, everyone should be praising Thomas Frank and Tottenham because they were fantastic against Manchester City.
One player, in particular, impressed the new Spurs boss.
Thomas Frank wowed by Joao Palhinha’s performance
Tottenham signed Joao Palhinha on loan from Bayern Munich earlier this summer.
The Portugal international was outstanding during his time at Fulham in the Premier League, but his move to Germany didn’t quite work out.
Spurs spotted an opportunity to bring him in, and he was one of the best players on the pitch against Manchester City on Saturday.
Palhinha wasn’t just incredible off the ball, but he also managed to score his first goal for Tottenham. That doubled Spurs’ lead just before half-time, which gave them a huge advantage.
Frank was very happy with Palhinha’s display, but what makes it even more impressive is the fact that he isn’t even fully fit yet.
Speaking about his new signings after the game, the Tottenham boss said, as relayed on HaytersTV: “What is 100 per cent sure is that we brought in two top players into the club – Kudus and Palhinha. Both of them performed very well, which I’m very pleased with.
“Palhinha, wow! Sometimes players need confidence to be on top.
“I still don’t think he’s fully fit yet, where I want him to be. But, very pleased with his performance and he’s definitely helping the team.”
Joao Palhinha’s stats vs Manchester City
Spurs fans should be very impressed with Palhinha’s performance.
Everybody knew his quality, but after an underwhelming spell at Bayern, there were a few question marks over whether he could be as good as he was during his Fulham days.
Those worries have been put to bed as Palhinha is still brilliant.
In his 89 minutes on the pitch against Manchester City, Palhinha had 40 touches of the ball and completed 21 of his 26 attempted passes.
He also made four tackles, two clearances and blocked a shot while winning 100 per cent of his aerial duels against Pep Guardiola’s men.