View: Bentancur on home stretch of Tottenham recovery with short cameo v Crystal Palace
Rodrigo Bentancur made his much-anticipated return from injury last week when he came off the bench in Tottenham’s 2-1 win away at Crystal Palace.
Before the trip to Selhurst Park on Friday night (27 October), 26-year-old Bentancur had been on a run of missing 28 matches across 254 days due to a cruciate ligament tear.
It had no doubt been the toughest spell of the Uruguay international’s career but even though his return to action wasn’t very long at all, he still made quite the impression against Palace.
Ange Postecoglou threw Bentancur onto the pitch just as stoppage time started and he ended up playing 12 minutes.
In that time, Palace managed to grab what turned out to be a consolation goal by Jordan Ayew but Bentancur also suggested that he’s going to be in the running to start in Postecoglou’s midfield once he’s fully fit again.
Stats by WhoScored show that Bentancur completed all seven of the passes he attempted, had nine touches of the ball and even had a shot at goal, that was blocked by Palace’s defence.
All but two of Bentancur’s passes went forward as he not only helped Spurs keep possession in the important dying stages of the game at Palace but he also offered a way of moving the ball up the pitch to potentially grab a third goal on the night.
FBRef reports that the former Juventus player also carried the ball five times and while he didn’t take possession forward with the ball at his feet, it still showed a great ability to retain possession.
It cannot be denied that Bentancur was a bit rusty, however.
WhoScored says that he attempted a tackle that he didn’t complete and was also dribbled past once. However, that’s understandable for someone who’d gone two-thirds of a year without kicking a ball in anger thanks to a serious knee injury.
He’s not going to commit to a tackle that could ruin his recovery and he’s not going to be too light on his toes due to the area of his body that was damaged.
But the signs were there that Bentnacur is now on the home stretch for his recovery.
It’s unlikely he’ll be starting many games – if any at all – before the end of the year but Postecoglou is slowly but surely getting one of the best central midfielders in the Premier League available for selection.
In other Tottenham news, one player has proven he can step up should Destiny Udogie’s absence extend to more than one game.