How Mathys Tel produced 'rescue' mission away from Tottenham with milestone moment

Tottenham Hotspur's Mathys Tel was the hero for France Under-21s on Saturday night.

It's not just a host of Tottenham stars on senior international duty at the moment.

Tel has represented France from Under-17s level right up to the Under-23s, but is currently part of Les Blues' U21s group.

He's yet to ever win a cap for the senior side, but aged 21, time is still firmly on his side to do so.

The Spurs winger's prospects in that regard will have been heavily aided after his exploits on Saturday.

France U21s were taking on Luxembourg in their penultimate group-stage qualifying game ahead of next summer's Under-21 European championships.

What did Mathys Tel do for France Under-21s vs Luxembourg?

Heading into their ninth game of their group stage qualifying campaign, France welcomed Luxembourg to Orleans.

Despite the home side being expected to win comfortably, the away side gave them a real scare.

France raced into a two-goal lead inside the opening 25 minutes, before Joane Gadou received a red card five minutes into the second half.

Luxembourg took full advantage, getting one back two minutes later before equalising from the penalty spot on 68 minutes.

Tel started the game on the bench, but came on in the 35th minute to replace the injured Jean-Matteo Bahoya of Leeds United.

As Maxifoot write: "Struggling, the young French side were finally rescued by their captain Tel (76th minute), who scored the winning goal."

It was a milestone moment as Tel's winner ensured that France have now booked their place in 2027's Under-21 European championships, with 23 points taken from nine games.

So, he could now be ready to return to hit the ground running when he returns to Spurs, but where does he need to focus his main efforts?

The good and the bad from Tel's Premier League start

Now entering his third season as a Tottenham player, expectations are growing on Tel to start delivering the goods on a consistent basis.

Some Tottenham fans, whilst appreciative of his tender age still, are beginning to lose patience, as might be Roberto De Zerbi.

Per FotMob, Tel ranks in the top 3.9 percentile of all Premier League left wingers this season for his 3.47 successful dribbles per 90 minutes.

Meanwhile, he also places in the leading 5.3 per cent for his 8.34 touches in the opposition box per game.

However, the Frenchman scores in the bottom 2.6 per cent for his 9.7 kilometres covered per match.

Tel also ranks in the lowest 27.6 per cent for his 0.35 shots on target and the bottom 28.9 percentile for his 1.04 chances created per game.

Major improvement is needed from him, but his exploits with France could be the injection of confidence he's been needing in order to kickstart his Spurs season.