Jose Mourinho praises "phenomenal" Tanguy Ndombele after Norwich performance
Jose Mourinho has hailed Tanguy Ndombele for his display in Tottenham's 2-2 draw with Norwich on Saturday.
Ndombele made himself unavailable selection for Spurs' 2-1 victory over Brighton on Boxing Day, a decision which disappointed Mourinho.
But the France international returned to the fold for the trip to Carrow Road and delivered an excellent performance in midfield.
"He played very well," Mourinho told reporters in his post-match press conference. "We played without a positional player, no Winks, no [Eric] Dier and [Christian] Eriksen and Ndombele played so, so well.
"Totally in control, the football was so fluid, passing, movement, turning, never playing back passes, always getting the ball going forward and between the lines and looking for the wingers. Fantastic football."
In a post-match interview with Sky Sports, Mourinho praised man-of-the-match Christian Eriksen but again highlighted Ndombele's contribution to the cause.
"I am happy with his man-of-the-match, but it could have been others," he said. "I think Ndombele was absolutely phenomenal.
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"We created from minute one to minute 90," Mourinho said. "We started the game creating chances and we finished the game creating chances. We started well then we had our 28th of December gift. Not Boxing Day but it was a gift on the 28th.
"Second half we played even better than the first half, really offensive, taking a lot of risks and dominating the game. We scored the equaliser and had 30 minutes to win the game and then gift number two."
Tottenham's draw with Norwich moved them up to sixth spot in the Premier League standings after 20 matches.
Mourinho's side are now two points behind Chelsea, but the Blues have the chance to extend their advantage against Arsenal on Sunday.
Tottenham are next in action on New Year's Day, when they face struggling Southampton at St Mary's.
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Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).