Moura
Coming off the back of a great draw in Turin against Juventus, Tottenham Hotspur were going into their FA Cup tie against League One side Rochdale with Harry Kane an injury doubt and not starting the game, and their motivation in the cup competition already having been questioned.
After their replay in the previous round, Mauricio Pochettino made it clear he wanted his players to take the cup more seriously, despite earlier in the season playing down the importance of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup himself.
So when they went a goal down to Rochdale, and had a pretty abysmal first half, people weren’t impressed and it was hard to blame them.
Then, Lucas Moura decided to step up and show what he’s made of, and levelled things up for them. They should’ve been a couple more goals up in the second half, after Erik Lamela came close to scoring, and Victor Wanyama missed a chance that looked harder not to score than to find the back of the net.
Really, it shouldn’t come down to a replay or the last ten minutes to scrape a win, even with changes and a Champions League game midweek, and the fans knew it, and while they had some love for Moura on his first start for the club, they were not impressed with the majority of their side.
Best of Twitter
Lucas Moura totally deserves a goal in this match. He’s been brilliant for Spurs.
— Fumz (@Foo_meee) February 18, 2018
Lucas Moura!
— Tosin the River. (@Tosines) February 18, 2018
That’s the end of Lucas Moura’s full debut. He goes off to a great ovation from the Spurs fans, replaced by Dele Alli. A very decent first taste of football in England for the Brazilian.
— Tottenham News (@Spurs_fl) February 18, 2018
Brilliant debut from @LucasMoura7. 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/zKXCDEwHm2
— Hotspur Related (@HotspurRelated) February 18, 2018
Decent enough full Debut. Good addition to the squad. @LucasMoura7 #thfc
— Mark Toleman (@marktoleman) February 18, 2018
Decent shift from Lucas Moura and enough to provide optimism. His first start in a while, but good to see some of his quality this afternoon #thfc
— George Sessions (@GeorgeSessions) February 18, 2018
Already looking like a great piece of business @LucasMoura7 #COYS #THFC
— Phil Venables (@venablesphil) February 18, 2018
Didn’t i tell ye Lucas Moura would be MOM. ..
— KIERAN SPURSLIFE (@gloryglorythfc1) February 18, 2018
I rate Lucas Moura HIGHLY
— ℳ (@VanillaDrilla_) February 18, 2018
Lucas Moura looks soooo good
— Brian (@BroJangled) February 18, 2018
Ooooo Lucas Moura
— Ben Wormington (@benwormy) February 18, 2018
See also: Ryan Mason speaks about possible return to Tottenham Hotspur
Double injury blow for Juventus ahead of Tottenham