Dele Alli is a curious talent. There are games that he will absolutely dominate and then there are ones in which he is largely anonymous. However, there’s rarely one that he fails to leave his mark on.
The North London derby on Sunday was a quiet one for the Englishman for a the most part but it was him who made the breakthrough.
His movement was slight but ever so crucial. After carrying the ball into the box, it fell to Christian Eriksen’s feet and when the Dane made space for himself, Alli duly drifted into the perfect position and was on hand to eventually stab the loose ball in.
Tottenham 2 : 0 Arsenal
— Maestro (@10Meastro) April 30, 2017
Dele Alli GOAL 🔥#THFCvsAFC
pic.twitter.com/5zeLuvVj6D
It’s that instinctive movement that changed the game and a second soon followed for Spurs when Harry Kane converted from the spot.
THREE KEY MOMENTS
22′ – A great chance goes begging. Kane holds up the ball before attempting a shot at goal which deflects perfectly into Alli’s path. The midfielder is put off by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s challenge and ends up sending his header wide when he had the goal at his mercy.
24′ – Just two minutes later, Victor Wanyama powered down the left flank before and played in Alli. The 21-year-old did well to find his way through a couple of Arsenal shirts before being stopped by Gabriel before he could do any real damage.
55′ – The damage was always coming though and Alli inflicted it early in the second half. He was alert enough to follow in Eriksen’s shot and turned in the rebound after Petr Cech’s save.
KEY STATS
Alli has been in scintillating form of late and Mauricio Pochettino will be glad that he’s come good at the business end of the season.
Dele Alli has now been directly involved in 12 goals in his last 11 games across all competitions.
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 30, 2017
8 goals ⚽️
4 assists 🅰️
Huge goal. pic.twitter.com/zeCKSFhmbV
What’s been great for Spurs in terms of Alli’s goal-scoring is that it’s been spread out well of late. He’s scored regularly rather than in bulk.
Dele Alli: No player has scored in more Premier League matches in 2017 than Alli (9) #TOTARS pic.twitter.com/1dAGA63Ekd
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) April 30, 2017
It wasn’t easy from the off for the youngster though as both he and Kane struggled to get involved with the team’s play for much of the first half.
Hugo Lloris completed more passes in the first half (15) than Dele Alli and Harry Kane combined (11).
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 30, 2017
Struggling to get them on the ball. pic.twitter.com/JGF9UCOBom
