Roberto De Zerbi was delighted with the reaction of the team to the weekend loss at Brentford as we toppled Charlton 5-1 in the Carabao Cup second round on Wednesday evening.
Saturday’ loss at the Gtech in our Premier League opener was a tough one after such a positive summer, but we responded in style to put the Championship side to the sword back in Tottenham.
In form and initially a tough nut to crack, Mikey Moore’s thumper four minutes before half-time opened the floodgates. Dominic Solanke soon added a second before a memorable second half where Kevin Danso scored his first Spurs goal with his first touch of the bench and new arrival Sávio gave a debut cameo to remember with a goal and assist for Ben Davies – although the defender knew little about it as Sávio’s shot deflected off him and home for 5-1.
Speaking to SPURSPLAY, Roberto reflected: “It was good as a reaction because in sport, in football, you can lose one game but the day after, you have to fight. You have to show your character, your mentality. I asked that to the players and I think we played well.
“We scored five goals, I'm sorry for the goal we conceded because to change mentality we have to be angry if we concede a goal like this at the end of the game.
“It's very good news because Sávio played 20 minutes. Pedro Porro and Micky van der Ven were back on the pitch, Rodrigo (Bentancur) played a great game like Mateus Fernandes, Mikey Moore and other great performances.
“I think we have to keep the last two games in the right way. The first game has been important to understand where we made mistakes. In this game, we can keep in mind what is very important to play with me - the order on the pitch, the many passes and without taking any risk. In the last third, I think we have to try to find the best combinations, the best way to attack the space.”