Tottenham Hotspur managed to pull together in the absence of Antonio Conte to overcome Manchester City and nobody epitomised that more than Emerson Royal.
The 24-year-old Brazilian was under pressure after the £40m signing of Pedro Porro and having been the focus of criticism from the fans but he pulled off the best performance of his Spurs career so far at the weekend. Emerson will have felt vindicated for rejecting any opportunity to leave Tottenham in the January window and Cristian Stellini called his performance 'perfect' after the 1-0 victory on Sunday night.
After the game, Emerson took to Instagram to post a simple message: "This is my team, this is Tottenham."
READ MORE: Pedro Porro illness, what Kane asked Conte on the phone, funny Lucas and Emerson's fitting post
It's an indication of just how attached the right wing-back is to the club and how determined he is to succeed. This is the same player who spent around £800,000 on trying to improve his game and his recovery in order to impress Spurs head coach Conte and the strength of Emerson's resolve will have impressed the Italian.
In the latest episode of the Gold & Guest Talk, our Spurs correspondents Alasdair Gold and Rob Guest discuss the Brazilian, as well as delving deeper into the win against Manchester City, Conte's absence and Harry Kane becoming Tottenham's undisputed record goalscorer after his 267th goal for the club settled Sunday's match.
You can find the new episode on most podcast platforms by heading right here.
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