Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson have both heaped praises on Pedro Porro after his strike against Burnley, with neither player surprised by the right-back’s wondergoal.
While there are plenty of contenders for ‘the most improved player’ title at Tottenham this season, Porro is arguably as big a contender as any, with the full-back continuing to get better with each game.
The 24-year-old has already broken the record for the most assists by any Spurs defender in a single Premier League season (Squawka).
The Spaniard netted his first goal of the campaign in the FA Cup third-round clash against Burnley on Friday and it was certainly worth the wait as he unleashed a pile driver from over 20 yards out that arrowed into the top corner.
Kulusevski was not surprised by the strike, revealing that Porro is not averse to trying his luck from a distance in training.
When asked about the former Sporting Lisbon star’s performance, the Swede said (via Football.London): “He’s like a bulldog. He’s doing a lot for the team. He’s stepping up when we need him, he’s been playing amazingly this whole season and he’s a great guy.
“Always bringing energy and always having fun. He’s always shooting the ball, which is very important in football because that’s how you score and he showed that today.”
Pedro Porro is a popular man at Tottenham
Brennan Johnson also seconded Kulusevski’s take, revealing that everyone in the dressing room is delighted for Porro.
The Welshman said about the wondergoal: “There was no luck about that. It was an unbelievable strike. He shoots a lot in training and misses a lot but it came off.
“Everyone is buzzing for Pedro. When games like that are quite tough and maybe we weren’t making the right decisions at the right time, sometimes it just takes a bit of quality.
“We know we have that in Pedro. He hasn’t scored too many this season but we all know the quality that he has and he definitely deserved it today.
“We’d lost the ball and he’d won it back and I was facing him. Obviously, I wasn’t too optimistic when he took the shot. It went really high over my head and I didn’t expect it to drop down like that. I’m sure the view of it is absolutely unbelievable.
“The way he hit it, it didn’t spin too much and it flew into that top corner. I was absolutely delighted for him.”
Johnson admitted that he quite enjoys playing with Porro, given the kind of vision and passing range that the right-back poses.
The winger added: “I think playing on the right we have a good connection. He likes to come inside and go outside sometimes and me the same. I like to come inside and get close to the goal but also I like to be out wide and get crosses in.
“But when I play on the left I know the balls that he has when he finds Destiny making forward runs and Sonny so before the game today when I knew I was going to play on the left we did speak about it because I know that as soon as he likes to get the ball out of his feet he can hit really quality passes. He did that well today and he managed to find me a few times.”
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One could tell from the celebrations on Friday just how popular Porro is in the dressing room. He is the sort of character who wears his heart on his sleeve and he is well on his way to becoming a fan favourite at Tottenham if he is not already.
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