Timo Werner was always destined to have a big moment in a Tottenham shirt at some point over the coming weeks. A campaign that has not gone to plan for him so far with some high-profile misses and a lack of regular minutes coming his way, the German produced when it mattered most on Wednesday evening.
Hosting Manchester City in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, five minutes were on the clock when the Tottenham attacker emphatically found the back of the net to cap off a flowing move. It was very much the finish of a player oozing in confidence.
Six days earlier, Werner's dwindling confidence levels were there for all to see with such a tame effort when put through on goal in the Europa League tie against AZ Alkmaar. Many Spurs fans inside the stadium no doubt believed that the left-sided player would pass up his latest opportunity when Dejan Kulusevski played an exquisite ball across the face of the goal five minutes into the Manchester City contest.
However, Tottenham's No.16 gave City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega no chance with a rasping first-time finish to spark pandemonium inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. You could see how much the moment meant to Werner and the team as he was soon surrounded by his teammates to celebrate his strike.
Werner could have finished the game with more than the one goal after having another couple of chances to help extend the scoreline. Firstly seizing upon a loose ball on the edge of the Man City box before shooting straight at Ortega, he wasn't far off from finding the far corner after embarking on a run early in the second half after some fine work from Dominic Solanke to release him.
The attacker's pace saw him race clear of Rico Lewis and Nathan Ake but his lofted effort agonisingly flew wide the post. As is usually the case with Werner, he does plenty things right but it is the final moment that often lets him down.
That was evident in the first half as he breezed past Savinho in his own half and looked to spark another swift Spurs attack after moving inside and crossing the halfway line at full pace. Unfortunately his next action was all wrong as his intended pass to Kulusevski went straight out of play when it looked such a simple pass to make.
Very frustrating for Tottenham as they looked to get into another position to hurt the visitors, Ange Postecoglou appreciated Werner's role in the move and applauded him from the touchline even though his play didn't have the desired outcome. What should also help the player's confidence levels in the weeks ahead is that he also played a key role in Tottenham's second goal of the night as Pape Matar Sarr curled a sublime strike beyond Ortega.
Werner and Kulusevski combined on a short corner, with the latter teeing up the Senegal ace on the edge of the box. The finish was so impressive that you could hear gasps from shocked fans around Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when it became clear just how much whip the midfielder had got on the ball when replays of his goal were beamed on the big screens.
Werner's night would come to an end on 68 minutes as he went to ground holding his right leg, which resulted in him limping around the outside of the pitch following his substitution. Postecoglou was asked in his post-match press conference about the German's exit and he believed that the issue was "more fatigue" than anything else.
The player also came in for praise from his head coach for his opening goal. Postecoglou feels that it could be an important moment that helps the loan signing really kick on.
"Great move for the first one and great for Timo to finish as he has been going through a tough time," he said. "With the attacking players it kinds of weighs on them when they don't score or don't sort of finish stuff off. For him to score tonight and in an important moment of the game was great and hopefully that sorts of helps him kick on."
Werner also commented on the "tough weeks" he has faced with not a lot coming off for him in a Tottenham shirt.
“Very pleased. I think it was a tough game today. To score a goal after tough weeks for me was also for me very nice, especially to have it at home. It is always more special to score here than somewhere else," he said in an interview with SPURSPLAY.
"I think the goal is a goal and it was important for me, but also for the team. After five minutes to go into a game like this after we lost a weird game at the weekend was I think for the whole team very important."
He added: "I think especially how the crowd reacted. I think it was more not that they were like finally he did it, it was more like relief from them to me and they say 'we saw he will do it one day'. And finally I can do it. Yeah, the hard work at the end brought the success and I have to continue with that."
The goals were always going to come for Werner as he continued to put himself into the best possible positions even if he wasn't hitting the back of the net. Now that he has got his first goal of the season out of the way, Werner believes that he can score "many more goals" for Tottenham.
"Yeah to be honest of course when you are a striker and didn't score, you think too much in front of the goal but I never think about not doing the runs to come into this situation," he admitted. "I think it would be stupid to stop those runs only because being scared to score.
"I think at the end, that's what my strengths are and that's why I scored a lot of goals in my career in the past. Exactly from this situation. I think when I come back, exactly like I did the goal, I keep on going with this mentality of being more confident in front of goal and I think yeah I can score many more goals."
Game time is going to be there for the player in the weeks ahead with Wilson Odobert unfortunately sustaining another blow on the injury front. Werner's goal against Manchester City is only going to boost his confidence and hopefully another big performance is on the way against Aston Villa this coming Sunday.
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