Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha has commented on the performance of Tottenham defender Japhet Tanganga after facing him on Saturday.
The Ivorian international was instrumental for The Eagles as they won 3-0 at Selhurst Park to bring an end to Nuno Espirito Santo’s perfect Premier League record as Spurs coach.
Tanganga was shifted into centre-back for Spurs after a number of absentees forced Nuno to switch his position as cover.
As such, he was moved away from the right-back spot he had made his own this season, paving the way for summer signing Emerson Royal to make his Spurs debut.
The 22-year-old academy graduate had a tough afternoon in the end, picking up two yellow cards just before the hour mark, which ultimately led to Spurs capitulating after a flat performance.
Zaha brought out the first booking for Tanganga after he drew in a cynical foul on the break, which led to some scuffles in reaction to the challenge.
But the Palace man claimed he relished the battle with Tanganga and commented on the Spurs man’s dogged style of defending, despite his dismissal.
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Zaha told BT Sport 1 (2:28pm, September 11, 2021): “I’ve seen him play before. He’s strong, fast, so as a winger you’ve got to think fast about what you’re going to do. But I enjoy battles, I’m happy today that we came out on top.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It was a good battle between Tanganga and Zaha, and ultimately it was the Palace man who came on top. He was a bit lucky after raising his hand to Tanganga’s face and throat during the scuffle, but it’s still not an excuse for the performance Spurs put in. Tanganga’s sending off was a rush of blood and hopefully, he will use that as a learning curve.
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