Tottenham fight back to give De Zerbi first Premier League win

Roberto De Zerbi praised Tottenham Hotspur’s resilience after a second-half fightback secured a 3-1 victory over Coventry City and delivered the club’s first Premier League win of the season on Monday night.

James Maddison scored in the opening stages on his first start for 18 months, but Tottenham’s advantage disappeared four minutes after the interval when Jack Rudoni equalised for Coventry.

Omar Marmoush put the visitors back in front with an excellent finish in the 58th minute before Ben Davies confirmed the victory with Tottenham’s third goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

The result offered a significant lift to De Zerbi’s side after their difficult start to the campaign. The Tottenham manager was particularly pleased with the way his players responded to conceding rather than allowing the match to drift towards a draw.

“The win was important for the table, first of all, because we felt pain looking at the table,” De Zerbi said. “We deserved to win today. We deserved to win the last games.”

The Italian acknowledged that Tottenham had not been at their best, while also crediting Coventry for making the match difficult with a compact defensive shape.

“I think we didn’t play so well tonight. We played much better in other games,” he said.

De Zerbi felt Tottenham’s slow circulation of the ball had made it harder to find openings against the hosts’ organised defence. However, he considered the reaction after Rudoni’s equaliser to be an important indication of his team’s developing character.

The manager also said injuries in midfield had affected his tactical choices. Conor Gallagher was unavailable at the beginning of the week, while Mateus Fernandes did not return from Portugal until towards the end of the week.

Despite those issues, De Zerbi believes Tottenham are starting to show more resilience. He also pointed to their response in the previous match against Manchester United at Old Trafford as evidence that the team is progressing.

“We are making the click, not just tonight, but from the game before in Old Trafford,” he said.

Tottenham’s response to Coventry’s equaliser was especially encouraging for the manager. Rather than accept a point, they continued to attack, regained the lead through Marmoush and then added a late third goal.

“We showed character, we showed reaction, we showed that we didn’t accept the draw, we didn’t accept the result after the goal we conceded,” De Zerbi said. “That’s important, it’s crucial.”

Tottenham will attempt to build on their first league victory when they travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on Saturday. For De Zerbi, the result could provide momentum after a challenging opening to the season.