Ange Postecoglou's Radu Dragusin moment as Tottenham man shows leadership on and off the pitch

That was more like it from Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham side as they secured their place in the last eight of the Carabao Cup with a 2-1 win over Manchester City. Following such a dismal showing at Crystal Palace three days earlier, Spurs needed to deliver a big performance to get the better of Pep Guardiola's side.

They did exactly that at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to set up a quarter-final tie against Manchester United in December. Tottenham were full value for their win over the reigning Premier League champions, with Dejan Kulusevski once again key to Spurs coming out on top.

The Swede has taken his game to another level this season and this time Guardiola and City felt the full force of a sublime Kulusevski performance. Tottenham's No.21 was to have a huge say on the opening goal of the night with such a precise ball across the edge of the box that Timo Werner finished off in style.

While Werner of course gets the plaudits for finally putting an end to his recent Tottenham struggles, the goal wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for Kulusevski's brilliance. He was to get another assist on 25 minutes as a short corner routine well and truly paid off for the hosts.

Kulusevski and Werner combined once again, with the former teeing up Pape Matar Sarr just outside the box to curl in an unstoppable drive. You could just see how much the goal meant to Kulusevski by his reaction as he shouted in the direction of the Man City faithful at the top of his voice.

Providing the Spurs team with bundles of energy and his ability to drive upfield with the ball, City just couldn't live with him at times. The goal his performance deserved unfortunately didn't arrive as Stefan Ortega got a strong hand to his low effort early in the second half.

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After his struggles against Crystal Palace with very little coming off for him, the Stockholm-born ace was back to his best for Tottenham when it mattered most. On the eve of the Manchester City match, Postecoglou opened up to football.london about the player's growth this season and stated that "there is more to come" from the Swedish star.

"I think Deki is growing but I think that's kind of where we are as a group," said the 59-year-old in his pre-match press conference. "A lot of them are growing and growing through experiences. I think for Deki at the weekend was another growth period because he got hurt pretty early and wasn't happy with it. In many respects, he lost a bit of his composure after that and that's another growth for him.

"To understand it is part of it and focus your energy on helping the team on the day rather than being personally aggrieved, but that's where we are as a group and that's where we get our growth. By going through experiences like we did at the weekend with a lot of the players and them going through that and understanding how to deal with it better next time.

"Deki has been fantastic for us this year in both his output and his attitude and mentality. I think there is more to come."

It's a very scary prospect if there is even more to come from Kulusevski going on the insane levels he is producing right now. He was outstanding against Man City and he appears to be doing everything possible at present to drag Tottenham kicking and screaming to silverware come May.

Injury woes as Dragusin delivers

All at Tottenham will be sweating on Micky van de Ven's fitness after the influential defender limped off in the opening minutes of the cup tie against Man City. Lining up at left-back with Destiny Udogie and Ben Davies on the bench and Djed Spence still absent, the Dutchman sustained a hamstring issue when competing for the ball with Savinho.

Van de Ven immediately felt his hamstring and went down in need of treatment, with the youngster replaced by Udogie. Van de Ven's reaction said it all as he looked completely shattered to be coming off and was subsequently reduced to tears.

Pulling his shirt over his head as he made his way past the Spurs dugout and towards the tunnel, Yves Bissouma sensed that his teammate needed consoling and he left his place on the bench to give him a hug as they walked down the tunnel together. It was a classy touch from Bissouma and an example of the growth in leadership Postecoglou wants from his players

A big blow for Spurs to lose a key figure in Van de Ven, Udogie came on and put in a real shift to help Spurs get over the line. The Italian maybe could have done better to try and cut out Savinho's cross for Matheus Nunes' goal on the stroke of half-time but he went from strength to strength in the second half.

Spurs' backline of Archie Gray, Cristian Romero, Radu Dragusin, Udogie and substitute Ben Davies all more than played their part in the victory as City peppered them towards the end of the first half and also after the break. Gray did struggle a number of times against the pace and trickery of Nunes as he filled in at right-back with Pedro Porro on the bench. Amid his troubles with the City man getting the better of him time and time again, the summer addition was so much better in the second half and used the ball well when in possession.

Romero and Dragusin did have a hand to play in Werner's goal as they calmly passed the ball about at the back before working it forward to perfection as Spurs profited from a flowing move. Both were excellent defensively but Romero's exit early in the second half did raise the possibility of another defensive injury.

Postecoglou admitted in his post-match press conference that the World Cup winner was "a bit tired" and that he contemplated changing him at half-time before opting to make the change on 52 minutes rather than run the risk of sustaining another injury. Dragusin was a rock at the back for Tottenham and delivered a colossal display as he made a number of important tackles and blocks to thwart the champions.

There was even one moment in the first half where he cut out a City pass on the touchline with a towering header right in front of Guardiola. Running past the City bench and also the Spurs technical area on his way back on to the pitch, Postecoglou applauded the Romanian's play and gave him a deserved pat on the back for his defensive work as the defender made his way past him.

Very impressive in his previous outing against Man City at the end of last season, Dragusin was even better this time with a performance that showed exactly why Postecoglou and the club were so keen to lure him to N17 from Genoa at the turn of the year. If Van de Ven is to miss a period of action due to his hamstring issue, Spurs have a very good replacement in Dragusin to call upon.

Bissouma's key intervention

Everyone on the pitch for Tottenham more than contributed to the win as they got the better of City in the fourth round of the cup. Tottenham's substitutes also had key roles to play in the victory, perhaps none more so than Bissouma as he led by example in the middle of the park.

Introduced at the break with Sarr on a yellow card, Postecoglou admitted that he wanted Bissouma to come on and help Spurs with their build-up play and give them more of a foothold with the player alongside Rodrigo Bentancur in midfield. Like Sarr, Bissouma was left walking a tightrope for the vast majority of his appearance after picking up a yellow card eight minutes into his display for bringing down Nico O'Reilly.

The pair would be involved in a key moment in the final minutes of the contest as Bissouma produced a heroic block on his own line. O'Reilly looked set to profit from Guglielmo Vicario flapping at a corner but the Spurs midfielder was on hand to stop the powerful strike from finding the bottom corner. It was a match-winning moment from Bissouma.

Davies was another to deliver a strong showing at the back as the visitors looked to restore parity, with Udogie doing likewise and also offering a threat in an attacking sense when Spurs had the opportunity to push on. Mikey Moore and Richarlison also got a decent amount of playing time following their introduction 20 minutes from time.

Six days on from Moore's standout display against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League, the young winger didn't have as many opportunities to run at his opponents this time as he lined up on the right. Richarlison did make an impression in his playing time as he put in the hard work and contributed defensively as well as helping relieve the pressure by carrying the ball forward with some purposeful runs.

He did, however, have a major opportunity to put the game completely out of sight in the 83rd minute after Josko Gvardiol's throw-in inadvertently put him clean through on goal. Richarlison took his shot first time but he didn't work Ortega as his effort was tame and straight down the shot-stopper's throat.

The attacker's reaction to his missed chance said it all as he knew he had blown such a good opening to give Spurs a two-goal cushion in what remained of the contest. He was still reflecting on the miss a couple of minutes later.

Thankfully it didn't prove to be a key moment in the contest as Spurs held on to secure their passage through to the fifth round of the competition. Tottenham fully deserved their victory on the night and it was the best possible response to losing at Crystal Palace three days earlier.

Tottenham fans will now have to wait until just prior to Christmas for their next game in the competition as they welcome Manchester United to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Doing the double over the Manchester clubs would be the ultimate early Christmas present as it would put Tottenham into the last four of the competition and also keep their trophy dreams alive.

After all, Postecoglou always wins a trophy in his second season at a club.

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