View: Pape Matar Sarr strikes first international goal, can be a platform for more goals in a Tottenham shirt
Pape Matar Sarr opened his international account during Senegal’s 4-0 victory over South Sudan in their opening qualifier for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Saturday 18 November.
Considering the midfielder is still just 21 years old, his impressive performances have been flying under the radar this season.
Spurs’ two other first-choice midfielders, Yves Bissouma and James Maddison, have found themselves with a bigger share of the limelight, with few plaudits left for Sarr’s mature displays.
Nonetheless, his goal for Senegal will certainly act as a reminder to Tottenham supporters and those across the Premier League that he is not just a part of the supporting cast, but rather a star in the making himself.
The referee was pointing to the centre spot no sooner than he had put his whistle back into his pocket as Sarr found the back of the net after just 37 seconds to open the scoring for the hosts.
He latched onto the ball on the edge of the box before proceeding to drill a low, right-footed shot across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner, setting Senegal on their way to a convincing victory, which the Spurs man played just over an hour of, being replaced on 63 minutes with his side already four goals to the good.
Goals have perhaps been the one feature of Sarr’s game which have been missing during his time at Tottenham, having netted just once since his arrival at the club, although his strike against South Sudan proves that he does have a few in his locker after all.
Sometimes all it takes is to find the back of the net once for a few more to start rolling in, and considering the joy and pride players feel when scoring for their country, Tottenham fans will hope that Sarr now has a taste for that feeling.
Stats provided by fbref show that Sarr is getting the chances, but perhaps just needs a bit more confidence in front of goal to put those chances away, which hopefully this latest milestone offers him. The midfielder is among the top six per cent of his positional peers in England’s top flight for the number of shots on target he has had so far this season (0.87 per 90), as well as the top eight per cent for the amount of non-penalty xG that he has generated (0.18 per 90).
His stats in possession demonstrate that he is getting in the right positions, as he currently sits in the 89th percentile of Premier League midfielders when it comes to the number of carries he has made into the final third (2.71 per 90), the 87th percentile for the number of progressive passes he has received (4.12 per 90) and the 82nd percentile for the number of touches he has made in the opposition penalty area (2.39 per 90).
It is clear that the potential is there for Sarr to get his name on the scoresheet more often at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and following the injury to Maddison now is the time for him to step up, build on his strike for Senegal and take his game to a whole new level under Ange Postecoglou.
In other Tottenham news, a collection of the club’s Under-21s stars have been away representing their various nations.