Owen Hargreaves says “exceptional” Tottenham star outshone Simons against Prague

Tottenham secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over Slavia Prague at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday evening, strengthening their bid for automatic Champions League qualification with a commanding performance.

Thomas Frank’s side also extended their 100 per cent home record in Europe with their third consecutive N17 victory, all without conceding a single goal in that time.

Spurs have now climbed into a coveted top eight place as a result, and there were a few star performers on the night.

David Zima’s bizarre own goal opened the scoring on 26 minutes, with the Czech defender inexplicably heading Pedro Porro’s dangerous corner past his own goalkeeper after Cristian Romero’s initial flick-on.

The opening period proved slightly chaotic, with Tottenham dominating possession yet struggling to convert superiority into clear-cut opportunities against Slavia’s resilient defence.

Richarlison should have given Spurs the lead within 45 seconds, heading Wilson Odobert’s excellent cross straight at goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek from point-blank range.

Slavia threatened sporadically, with Stanek producing several outstanding saves to deny Tottenham’s attack. The Czech international frustrated Mohammed Kudus and substitute Mathys Tel — who was named in the squad despite being left out of their original 22-man list — with exceptional saves.

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However, two second-half penalties then secured Tottenham’s victory.

Kudus converted their first spot-kick before Xavi Simons completed the scoring after being fouled inside the area, though Slavia’s Igoh Ogbu escaped a second yellow card for the challenge that conceded the penalty.

In some bad news, Micky van de Ven received a booking that rules him out of the crucial Borussia Dortmund clash, representing the evening’s only negative for Frank.

Ben Davies made his first appearance of the campaign during stoppage time, providing a sentimental moment with Son Heung-min watching from the stands following his emotional farewell visit to North London.

The victory maintains Tottenham’s remarkable 22-match unbeaten run at home in European competitions whilst extending Slavia’s winless streak to six Champions League games. The Czech champions also remain without a goal across their last four European matches.

Tottenham now need just four points from their remaining fixtures against Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt to guarantee at least playoff qualification, with top-eight automatic progression firmly within reach.

A lot of the noise has centered around yet another convincing performance from Simons, his second on the bounce after Brentford last weekend, but according to Hargreaves, it was another man who stole the show.

Owen Hargreaves praises 'exceptional' Mohammed Kudus

While the media have lavished Simons’ 9/10 display, it was Kudus who attracted serious praise from TNT Sports pundit Owen Hargreaves.

Speaking after the match, Hargreaves told TNT that Kudus was Tottenham’s ‘best player by far’ and put in a truly ‘exceptional’ display.

The Ghanaian will be facing off against England at the World Cup, potentially Djed Spence, who jokingly said that he was going to pocket his teammate in the States.

However, if we were Spence, we’d certainly be worried.

Kudus has been Tottenham’s standout attacking star by some way this season, and it’s hard to imagine where Frank’s side would be without the former West Ham sensation, who crossed the London divide in July.

The 25-year-old, on top of his nine goal contributions in all competitions this season, has also averaged more successful take-ons per 90 than any other player in the Premier League — marking himself out as England’s most devastating dribbler (WhoScored).

Last night was yet another example of the excellent business done by Spurs to tempt Kudus to north London, and the best could still be yet to come.