Japhet Tanganga was a "huge" influence against reigning English champions Manchester City, according to Tottenham Hotspur boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
The London side began their 2021-22 campaign on an impressive note by defeating the Citizens 1-0 in Sunday’s showdown, thanks to Son Heung-Min’s second-half strike.
Tanganga, 22, got the nod to start ahead of Cote d’Ivoire’s Serge Aurier and Matt Doherty, and he did not disappoint as he held sway in the hosts’ backline to deny Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish from wreaking havoc.
After full-time, the youngster walked home with the man-of-the-match award ahead of Son, Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura, to the delight of his Portuguese boss who waxed lyrical about his performance, and that of Oliver Skipp in the low-scoring affair.
“They [Tangaga and Skipp] did well,” Nuno told media during the post-match conference.
“When they started the season, they were in the processes of recovering from injury, but they had a good foundation in terms of fitness and physicality.
“With the work they did with sports science, I think they were able to keep on growing and we can see they are fit and stronger and faster.
“All the team did very well but Japhet was huge today. He faced too many one on ones today against fantastic players and he dealt fantastically with the situation.
Despite Pep Guardiola’s men showing promise at the start of the game, they were poor in the final third with Spurs’ backline staying disciplined.
In the second half, the hosts grew in confidence and eventually picked up all points at stake thanks to Son’s 55th-minute effort.
In a swift counter-attack that caught City’s backline flat-footed, Bergwijn picked out the South Korea international who beat Nathan Ake before curling his shot past goalkeeper Ederson.
After a contribution of 83 minutes, the England youth international of Congolese descent was substituted for Matt Doherty as Spurs held their nerve to win their opener.
That result got Manchester City’s title defence off to a losing start, and Guardiola and his men would be hoping they can put their last two losses behind them when they travel to newly-promoted Norwich City next week.
For Espirito Santo's team, they travel to Molineux Stadium for a date with his former side, Wolverhampton Wanderers.