Alan Shearer stunned by ‘wonderful’ Pedro Porro for Tottenham despite defeat to West Ham United
Tottenham Hotspur made it five matches without a win in the Premier League as they let a first-half lead slip in their 2-1 defeat to West Ham United on Thursday 7 December.
Ange Postecoglou’s side took the lead after only 11 minutes but conceded twice in the second half to miss the chance to move level with Manchester City in fourth place as Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse both capitalised on Spurs’ defensive errors.
While it was another disappointing evening in North London, Alan Shearer was blown away by Pedro Porro’s performance from right-back, describing the Spanish defender’s delivery into the area as “wonderful” when he assisted Cristian Romero’s opener.
Commentating on Prime Video (7 December, 21:22) he said: “What a cross from Porro, centre-forward’s dream that ball is.
“I like that what Porro does, he doesn’t have any second thoughts other than get that ball in with pace and whip it across in between the defenders and the goalkeeper. Great balls for forwards they are very difficult for defenders to defend and get away.
“It was that good, it deserved to be in the back of the net.”
That particular piece of praise came following a miss from Richarlison midway through the second half as the 24-year-old swung an excellent ball onto the Brazilian forward’s head. Although the chance was missed, it carried an xG of 0.25 [Fotmob].
It was one of four chances created by Porro from the right flank, with no other player on either side carving out more opportunities than the Spurs defender. In total, he registered an expected assist of 0.37, including taking the corner that led to Romero’s opener.
Few players in the Premier League provide such a threat when crossing into the penalty area, with Porro placing in the 93rd percentile of the division’s fullbacks for expected assisted goals per 90 minutes, with an average of 0.23 a game [Fbref].
Only 16 per cent of the league’s fullbacks complete more crosses a match than the Spanish defender, and even more impressively he places in the top three per cent of his positional peers for through balls completed per 90 minutes.
Almost everything good from Postecoglou’s side in possession came through the 24-year-old, he completed 100 per cent of the dribbles he attempted in the clash and rained a remarkable 18 crosses into the penalty area. Unfortunately, only three of those efforts found a teammate in a white shirt.
Porro also played nine passes into the final third as he tried to pick apart West Ham’s backline and even won the home side two free-kicks. The one frustration from Porro’s display was how wasteful he was when shooting himself, only forcing one save out of Lukasz Fabianski despite taking five shots.
Defensively, the 24-year-old would have hoped to have done more as he only won 45 per cent of the 11 ground duels he entered and lost his only tackle in the match, but he more than made up for that quiet night out of possession by shining with the ball.
Hopefully, Tottenham can find a way to start putting away these “wonderful” crosses more often as it is probably their greatest threat. If they start taking these chances, it won’t take long for their form to turn.
In other Tottenham news, Daniel Levy must cash in on Hugo Lloris after Fraser Forster signed a new contract in North London