115 touches, 90% pass accuracy, 7 ground duels won: £14.5m Spurs gem is a future star for Conte

By Giuseppe Labellarte

Tottenham Hotspur have reached the fourth round of the FA Cup after seeing off Portsmouth on Saturday.

Spurs ran out 1-0 winners over Pompey at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in one of the day’s early kickoffs.

Harry Kane got the winner for Antonio Conte’s side, the England captain scoring his third goal of the week.

In the 50th minute, Kane exchanged passes with Ryan Sessegnon before curling into the far corner from 18 yards.

The Spurs striker also moved to within two goals of surpassing Jimmy Greaves as Tottenham’s record scorer.

Not only did Spurs get the job done against a tricky opponent, but several young players gave great accounts of themselves.

One of those was Pape Matar Sarr, who delivered a superb display that had fans singing his praises.

The 20-year-old was so composed on the ball, and his timing and understanding of the game are outstanding.

Sarr clocked up some impressive stats on the day, including the most touches and tackles won.

As per Statman Dave, he also completed 85 passes with a 90 percent pass accuracy including a key pass, completed nine long balls, won seven ground duels, and made three interceptions.

Both the Evening Standard and football.london gave Sarr a 7 out of 10 for his efforts on the day.

‘A couple of wild passes aside, the (20-year-old) was assured and moved the ball well,’ wrote the former.

‘Looks a tidy player with a good touch.’

The latter wrote: ‘A couple of wayward passes aside, the 20-year-old looks very comfortable in a Spurs shirt.

‘His movement off the ball is very good as is his anticipation, making a couple of important interceptions.

‘Lasted the 90 minutes well despite a heavy late hit in a tackle.’

Sarr is reportedly on the radar of Italian side Salernitana, who want him on loan.

Based on how the £14.5m midfielder has done in the last few games, Conte shouldn’t be sanctioning any January departure.

Indeed, the Spurs boss should be giving Sarr more starts for the first team.