The Italian made an important contribution for Tottenham Hotspur and reacted differently to everyone else in the team to their late leveller
Sandro Tonali had a different reaction to his Tottenham team-mates after Dominic Solanke's 92nd-minute equaliser at Manchester United on Saturday night.
The Italy international had grabbed his first assist for the club since his £100million move from Newcastle this summer when he curled in a pinpoint cross for the Spurs striker to head home in added time to rescue a point after Bryan Mbeumo's second half goal had threatened to undo all of the away side's good work.
Goalscorer and captain for the day Solanke was immediately grabbed by team-mates Savio, Archie Gray and substitute Omar Marmoush and the visiting players ran over to the travelling Tottenham faithful in the corner of Old Trafford. Tonali made a different decision though, choosing to instead sprint over from the other side of the penalty area to the far touchline to hug head coach Roberto De Zerbi.
His compatriot had grabbed a spare ball by the touchline to his mouth and tried to take a hefty bite out of it as he screamed his delight before seeing Tonali run towards him.
It spoke volumes about the relationship between the Italians, which helped Spurs sign the 26-year-old in the summer, and also the acknowledgement that it was a big moment for De Zerbi as well, as the criticism had grown outside a club that had spent plenty of money on transfers in the summer but is still without a Premier League win this season.
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Not only was it Tonali's first assist for Tottenham but he managed another feat on the day. The midfielder recorded a sprint of 34.2kmh, which was a top speed that no other starting player on the pitch from either side could reach.
It was only beaten when De Zerbi brought Marmoush off the bench and the Egyptian logged a sprint of 35.1kmh. Mohammed Kudus rounded out a Tottenham top three as the fastest of all players from both sides with a sprint of 33.8kmh.
Tonali might not look like the fastest player around but he ran quicker than the likes of Mbeumo and Savio on the day as well as Spurs skipper Micky van de Ven, who came on later in the game.
The Italy international has been gradually improving since his big-money move from Newcastle and in recent games has been showing the kind of form and fitness De Zerbi expects of him.