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Dubravka being in Crook’s TOTW flatters Tottenham

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Image for Dubravka being in Crook’s TOTW flatters Tottenham

OPINION

Many Tottenham fans are surely baffled how Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka weaved his way into Garth Crook’s Team of the Week as their side didn’t exactly work the shot-stopper extremely hard.

The BBC pundit revealed his Team of the Week following Spurs’ 1-0 defeat to the Magpies and he ended up raving about Dubravka as he believes he set the tone for his team’s impressive victory.

“The longer the game went on the better Martin Dubravka became and the more his team grew in confidence,” wrote Crooks for BBC Sport.

“To go to White Hart Lane with no points on the board, criticism ringing in your ears from two previous woeful performances and an expectant following can’t be easy.

“Nevertheless Dubravka saved well in the first half from Son Heung-min, was brilliant in the air with crosses and showed calmness and composure when it mattered.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the performance of the Slovakia international set the tone for an impressive victory.”

While Dubravka did have a solid game, normally when a goalkeeper is featured in a Team of the Week it’s because he has amazingly managed to keep a clean sheet or deny his opponents scoring from several clear-cut opportunities.

However, that wasn’t the case with the Magpies shot-stopper on Sunday.

While the 30-year-old was strong when coming to collect the ball, and made one very memorable save to deny Heung-min Son scoring on his return to action, at the end of the day only two of Spurs’ 12 shots were on target. (Source: BBC)

This means Dubravka was hardly pulling off save-after-save to keep his clean sheet intact.

If Spurs were better in front of goal and made the most of their chances, then they would have denied the Magpies keeper a clean sheet.

After all, Tottenham attacker Lucas Moura had two chances on Sunday, where he should have at least worked the keeper.

The Brazilian fired the ball high into the sky from eight-yards out after Moussa Sissoko crossed the ball to him, and didn’t seize on the opportunity to knock the ball home after Harry Kane fluffed his lines when the ball rolled to his feet.

So with that in mind, you feel many Tottenham fans will surely be baffled over Dubravka being Crook’s Premier League keeper of the week as it makes it sound like their team just struggled to score due to an immense keeper.

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