How Richarlison fared on surprise Tottenham U21s outing in EFL Trophy

Richarlison played his first ever game for Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s on Tuesday night.

The Brazilian striker has fallen firmly out of favour with Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi this season.

He's made just one appearances in all competitive competitions, with that being on the opening day of the Premier League campaign against Brentford.

Since then he's been shunned by De Zerbi, and there seems to be a rift in the two's relationship.

But the 29-year-old has finally been seen wearing Lilywhites colours once again on Tuesday night.

However, it came for a team he's never turned out for previously in a competition he's never played in: Tottenham's Under-21s in the EFL Trophy.

How many minutes did Richarlison play for Spurs' Under-21s?

Starting on the left wing, Richarlison played the full 90 minutes for Tottenham's Under-21s on Tuesday night.

Wayne Burnett's side drew 2-2 in normal time against the League Two side, with Richarlison grabbing the first goal for Spurs after Cheltenham took the lead just before half-time.

Spurs thought they'd scored the winning goal when 19-year-old winger Miracle Adewole struck with 73 minutes on the clock.

However, George Miller bagged his second of the night in the 96th minute, taking the game to a penalty shootout.

In what was a hugely dramatic shootout with misses for both teams, Cheltenham eventually won 7-6.

Per FotMob, no player took more touches in the opposition box (nine) than Richarlison, whilst he also created two chances and scored in the shootout.

He put four shots on goal, missed one big chance, played five passes into the final third and made 11 recoveries.

On top of that, he also won four of his eight ground duels, won two fouls and committed zero whilst also playing five accurate long balls.

Richarlison's passing wasn't great as he only completed 72per cent accurately, but overall, he certainly flexed his quality and experience in Gloucestershire.

But why did it perhaps not matter at all how Richarlison played for Tottenham's Under-21s against Cheltenham?

What might U-21s run out mean for Richarlison's first-team future?

First and foremost, Richarlison deserves a huge amount of praise for showing a good and professional attitude to play for the Under-21s.

He's played 136 times for Tottenham, 152 times for Everton and is a 54-cap Brazilian international; could he really have been blamed if he'd refused?

Instead, he agreed to play, and perhaps seeing if he would or not was the real test De Zerbi was handing him, not so much how he played.

By turning out with the youngsters in the EFL Trophy, Spurs' number nine has shown to his manager that he is a team player.

Perhaps then Tuesday night may open up a route back to the first-team squad for Richarlison.