After seemingly falling into a tunnel of ineffectiveness, the Frenchman scored a goal. Will it be the goal that signals a resurgence?
Tottenham Hotspur defeated Sheffield United 2-1 in the fifth round of the 2023-24 Premier League (PL) at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on Saturday at 11 p.m. ET. The win was Spurs’ fourth in a row and keeps them in second place with four wins and one draw (13 points).
Tottenham deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation. Son Heung-min, Manor Solomon, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusebski, Yves Bissouma, Papé Sarr, Destiny Udoji, Micky van der Vaart, Christian Romero, Pedro Foro, and Guglielmo Vicario started in the center of the park. Once again, Heurelisong was on the bench. With Harry Kane’s departure to Bayern Munich, he was picked to start up front, but his worst performance relegated him to the bench. 메이저사이트
The Everton ace hasn’t returned to his Brazilian international form. He began his PL career with Watford in 2017. After showing promise at Watford, he moved to Everton. In his first season at Everton, he scored 13 goals in the PL alone. Despite playing up front, he impressed with his work rate, concentration in the penalty box, and doggedness. He scored 13 goals again in 2019-20, and although he slowed down a bit in 2020-21, he was still a key part of the Everton lineup.
He was crucial to Everton’s survival as they hovered in the relegation zone. In 2021-22, he rescued a crumbling Everton side and helped them stay up. The Toffees, desperate for attacking reinforcements, snapped him up for €58 million in 2022. It was Tottenham’s second-largest transfer fee of all time, behind Ndombele. The expectations were high, but his performance was abysmal. After going scoreless in the league all season, he finished the season with one goal in the PL. In the UEFA Champions League (UCL), he scored two goals, his first multi-goal game in the competition.
If he was struggling at Tottenham, he could get away with it with the Brazilian national team, but not anymore. During the A-match, he was in tears over his performance. Against Bolivia, he missed a series of crucial chances, most notably in the sixth minute of the second half, when he found himself wide open after folding in the box, but his subsequent shot sailed over the crossbar. His duties lasted until the 26th minute of the second half, when he was replaced by Mateusz Cunha.
In 71 minutes, he had 15 touches of the ball, four shots (two on target), a passing success rate of 83% (5/6), one successful ground contest (three attempts), and one successful aerial contest (two attempts). Worst ratings followed. Soccer stats outlet Couch Score gave him a rating of 6.1. This was the lowest of any Brazilian player, including substitutes. Footmob also gave him a 6.4, tied for the lowest rating with Cunha.
After being subbed out, he was caught on camera sitting on the bench with red eyes. He appeared to be in tears of disappointment. Despite his team’s big win and Neymar’s historic record, he simply watched the game with tears in his eyes. Against Peru