Joao Palhinha praised by Tottenham boss Thomas Frank after victory at Man City

By Simon Peach, PA Chief Football Writer

Thomas Frank praised summer signing Joao Palhinha after Tottenham put the disappointment of missing out on Eberechi Eze behind them with an eye-catching 2-0 victory at Manchester City.

The former Brentford boss oversaw a 3-0 win against promoted Burnley in their Premier League opener and his excellent start to life in the hotseat continue at the Etihad Stadium.

Brennan Johnson converted Richarlison’s cross in a first half that ended with Palhinha, who recently joined on loan from Bayern Munich, rifling home as Tottenham capitalised on a James Trafford error with what proved to be the final goal.

It was an impressive response to seeing their move for Crystal Palace star Eze hijacked by arch-rivals Arsenal, but boss Frank was only interested in talking about those that had joined.

“I think it’s fair to say that we’ve got a few questions about the transfer market yesterday – a lot about why not, and what if, and all that,” the Spurs boss said.

“What is 100 per cent sure is that we brought two top players into the club, (Mohammed) Kudus and Palhinha. Both of them performed very well, which I’m very pleased with.

“And Palhinha, wow. You know, sometimes players need confidence, and they need to be on top.

“I actually don’t think he’s fully fit yet where I want him to be, but very pleased with his performance and he’s definitely helping the team.”

Asked if he had used the Eze situation as inspiration, Frank said: “I think that’s very, very easy – never ever use one word about anything that is not in our club.”

Spurs are sure to be active in the final week of the window as they look to move on from missing out on from Eze and build on a promising start to life under Frank.

The north Londoners have started the Premier League with two wins having impressed against Paris St Germain in the UEFA Super Cup, when they blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 and then lost on penalties.

“We referenced it at half-time,” Frank said. “When you are tired, keep going. That is one thing.

“Two, that we have to keep being brave on the ball, and three, we have to keep being good in the high pressure.

“That’s easier said than done, but from every game you learn. From games where you’re not getting the result you want, you learn maybe even more.

“The other thing was a final, this was away at the Etihad – one of the most difficult places to go to.

“The defensive principles are more and more and I think the mentality is the key thing. You need mentality to win games like this.”

While Spurs kicked on from their opening weekend win, City returned to earth with a bump having triumphed 4-0 at Wolves.

They were on the back foot for large periods and home debutant Trafford’s error for Palhinha’s goal just before half-time was a body blow they were unable to recover from.

The 22-year-old recently rejoined City from Burnley and speculation continues that Ederson, who was on the bench after illness, could leave, with Paris St Germain’s Gianluigi Donnarumma arriving.

City boss Pep Guardiola said: “He made a good first game, James, and I decided to continue.

“When I take decisions normally in the first part of the season, not just for the keeper – goalkeeper is a special position of course to have more consistency in the goal.

“But for all the players when you play one or two and everybody thinks ‘OK, this is the starting line-up, this is the player that’s going to play’.

“I learned from many years that this amount of games everybody will play. It was just today I decided that (Trafford starts rather than Ederson).”