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Owen Hargreaves praised Tottenham striker Carlos Vinicius for his Europa League display
Owen Hargreaves picked out fringe player Carlos Vinicius for praise after his Tottenham performance on Thursday.
Spurs took full control of their Europa League Round of 32 tie by winning 4-1 against Austrian side Wolfsberger in the away leg.
Manager Jose Mourinho named a fairly strong XI for the European showdown and they should be comfortable in next week’s second leg.
Spurs raced into a 3-0 half-time lead thanks to goals from Heung-Min Son, Gareth Bale and Lucas Moura.
Vinicius ended up adding a fourth goal in the 88th minute, as he showed great instincts to react quickly in the box and turn the ball into the net with an outstretched leg.
The 25-year-old forward may have felt disappointed to be left out of the XI, as he has featured regularly in the European competition so far.
But he was substituted on at half time by the manager and he gave a vital contribution.
Pundit and ex-England international Hargreaves mentioned Vinicius in his post-match analysis.
“I think Vinicius he’s a really good player. I think he’s a great [option] when Harry Kane’s not there. Can pop up with important goals,”
TBR’s View:
Vinicius knew he was arriving at Spurs to play understudy to Kane, but he must have been frustrated when he was named on the bench against Wolfsberger in a game where Kane wasn’t in the squad.
The on-loan Benfica forward has shown he comes alive around the penalty box, scoring seven goals in 18 appearances across all competitions this season for Spurs.
But his all round game is perhaps lacking and it may be difficult to earn regular minutes during the remaining few months of the season.