Tottenham striker Dominic Solanke (Credit: Imago)

HomeStats & Tactics Sun 6 October 2024 17:16, UK

Dominic Solanke is now starting to blow away doubts over his big-money Tottenham transfer after another excellent performance in the first half at Brighton.

Ange Postecoglou was forced to come to his new striker's defence last month [ESPN, 20 September] as critics rushed to judgement after his PS65million move from Bournemouth in the summer.

But after a difficult start to life at Spurs which saw him pick up an early injury and go goalless in his first two Premier League starts the Englishman looks at home in the Australian's set up.

He followed up a goal in each of the back-to-back wins against Brentford and Manchester United with a wonderful assist for Brennan Johnson's opener at the Amex on 6 October, sliding a perfectly-timed through ball into the area for the Welshman to score in his sixth successive game.

Brennan Johnson scores in sixth Tottenham game running It came in impressive all-round performance from Solanke, 27, in which he led the line offensively and defensively, also playing a role in Richard Key's-favourite James Maddison's second as the visitors went in at the break up 2-0.

He may not have seen much of the ball, but he did plenty with his 10 touches, recording the assist form his one key pass, and misplacing just one overall.

His one long ball found its target (100%) and he was victorious in his only aerial duel (100%), while plenty of his work didn't even show up on the stat sheet when closing down Brighton defenders and providing a key focal point for runners like Johnson and Timo Werner to push beyond.

Alan Smith was delighted by the move to break the deadlock live on Sky Sports as he said (4.56pm): "What a start it's been for Tottenham, they have been totally on top. They've bossed it, they've threatened to score on a few occasions.

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"Another, what looks like, really well-timed run and Solanke sees him beautifully. They nick the ball as they're so good at doing these days under Postecoglou, and that's confidence for you from Johnson."

Tottenham forward Brennan Johnson was assisted to score for a sixth game running (Credit: Imago) A year after talisman Harry Kane left for Bayern Munich it is clear that Solanke is the nominal replacement after a year with Richarlison as the main man.

He has miles to go yet to get near the England captain's output but doubts as to whether he was ready for the step up look to be put to bed already.

In other Tottenham news, one man is an ongoing concern for Postecoglou in the Spurs side.