De Zerbi praises Tonali display in Spurs 2-0 win

Roberto De Zerbi said he was very happy with his side's performance in Tottenham's 2-0 Premier League win over Crystal Palace at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, praising Sandro Tonali's showing in particular.

Speaking to the media after the match, the Tottenham head coach said the team had shown maturity and clear ideas. "I'm very happy with the performance, because we showed to be mature team, with clear ideas," De Zerbi said. "We didn't concede a counter-attack, maybe just one in the second half. We created many, many chances."

De Zerbi said the side still needed to be more clinical. "If we want to follow the perfection, we have to be more... nasty," he said. "Tonali today was unbelievable, incredible. We played with two players more - Tonali was the double today."

On Palace's approach, he said the visitors had set up in a low block that was hard to break down. "Maybe now we are not ready yet to play against one low block so close, so aggressive, in so small spaces," he said. "Maybe in two, three months we can reach the right level to play better against one low block, but now it's very tough."

He also addressed the early-season standing of the club, recalling that Tottenham had been last in the table two weeks earlier. "We can't forget where we have been two weeks ago," he said, pointing to the Coventry game as the reference point.

On fitness, De Zerbi said Pedro Porro was ready to start, while Destiny Udogie still needed more consistent training time. "With Udogie, hopefully we can work many weeks in a row. Until now, it was not possible," he said.