Tottenham Hotspur’s Eric Dier has praised his teammate Ben Davies for his injury-time block which protected Spurs’ clean sheet against Marseille in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The North London club hosted high-flying French side Marseille in the Group D opener of this year’s Champions League. It was a big night for the Lilywhites, with Spurs playing in the competition for the first time since 2020.
Despite a shaky first half, Spurs managed to win the game 2-0 thanks to a brace from new signing Richarlison. This came after Marseille had played much of the second half with ten men after Chancel Mbemba Mangulu was sent off in the 48th minute.
With 20 minutes left to play, Antonio Conte brought Ben Davies on to replace Clement Lenglet in the left-sided centre-back role.
As the final whistle loomed, Davies gave the ball away with a risky pass in his own half, but with Marseille running through on goal, the Welshman managed to redeem himself in style, using his head to block a clear chance on goal.
Davies’ brave act sealed a clean sheet for his side in an important win under the lights of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Speaking to the Tottenham Hotspur website, fellow defender Eric Dier was full of praise for Davies.
He said: “Ben did fantastically well. He lost his footing and then went with his head. It was an incredible piece of defending. We wanted to keep hold of that clean sheet. It would have been disappointing to have lost it.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Yes, Davies made the initial mistake to open up the chance for Marseille, but his recovery was commendable. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter about individual errors, as long as the player, and indeed the whole team, work hard to put it right, and Davies did exactly that.
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