On Friday, January 5, Tottenham defeated Burnley 1-0 to move on to the FA Cup’s fourth round. Destiny Udogie put up another outstanding performance.
The left-back is having an incredible debut season in North London; this cup victory marks his 18th start for the Lilywhites across all competitions.
Although Udogie did not score or provide an assist, he was undoubtedly crucial to the victory, as Pedro Porro’s spectacular goal proved to be the deciding factor.
In fact, only teammate full-back Porro (three), who had a monster performance, was superior to him on his two crucial passes at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium [Sofascore].
Of all Spurs players, only Rodrigo Bentancur had more completed dribbles than the Italy international, who finished with two.
Particularly during the first half, Udogie went on a slaloming run that resulted in Vitinho destroying him.
This led to the defender—who had 64 touches of the ball—being compared to Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the all-time greats.
Conor McNamara commented on the game for BBC Radio 5 Live on January 5 at 8:42 p.m., saying, “That’s great strength from Udogie.”
Before landing a Ronaldo-style jump, he first holds off Aaron Ramsey and then Lyle Foster. Vitinho eventually loses patience and takes him out with a knife.
The fact that Udogie was fouled a joint-high two times, level with Porro [WhoScored], according to McNamara, indicated that he was “too hot to handle.”
Udogie contributed not only offensively but also skillfully to defense, as evidenced by the fact that seven of his 13 attempted duels were won.
That total was unbeatable by any Tottenham player, and not a single one of them was dribbled past. Porro was dribbled past three times, for context.
Add in the fact that he won three aerial duels (only Emerson Royal had five), and it’s safe to say Udogie made an excellent impression everywhere on the field.
Fans of Tottenham should know better than to tell them that they have a true treasure in the constantly developing Udogie.
