Tottenham midfielder James Maddison compares Mikey Moore to Neymar – Irvine Times

Spurs remained perfect in the Europa League with a third straight win after Richarlison’s 53rd-minute penalty.

It came after an awkward exchange between Richarlison and Maddison, which eventually saw the Brazilian striker allowed to take the spot-kick and slot home his first goal since May, but the display of 17-year-old Moore caught the eye.

After Moore moved to his favored position on the left wing early in the second half, he promptly burst past a handful of AZ defenders before setting up Brennan Johnson and regularly racing beyond Seiya Maikuma during a terrorizing spell that showed why boss Ange Postecoglou gave him a second start.

“From 45 to 65 minutes I thought we had Neymar on the left wing! (Moore) was brilliant,” Maddison told TNT Sports.

“He was asking for the ball, fearless. That young fearless mentality, you never want to take that away from him.

“He’s a young lad, a brilliant lad. He is a wonderful boy, receptive to information and has many abilities. So I’ll be there as an older player, hopefully with words of wisdom to help him along the way. He has all the abilities. It’s about relaxing and continuing to work hard, which he does, to be fair to him.”

Moore could have marked his first home start with a goal after five minutes, but he headed home from Timo Werner’s fine cross.

It was a rare blemish on an otherwise successful night for the Spurs academy graduate and Postecoglou admitted it was another stirring performance.

Postecoglou added: “It’s quite difficult for me to keep it, isn’t it?! He was exciting. You can’t deny it. There is no point in denying it.

“I like the way Mikey takes everything in his stride, he works hard every day. He wants to develop, he understands that this is a journey.

“It’s very easy for a young guy like him, who’s just turned 17, to feel like he’s made it somehow, but you do feel that at some point. It’s exciting, isn’t it?

“You’ve got such a young player wanting that responsibility to make an impact, not just sometimes with young players they’re a bit worried about making mistakes. He is developing well.

“We have to be really careful how we use it and when we use it, that’s the key for us, especially in these early stages.

“I’m not afraid to throw it in. Absolutely not. I know and I see him every day, he is a great young player and there is definitely more to come.

“The thing that gives me the most confidence is how he handles everything. I don’t think hearing what Mathers said about him will affect him tomorrow. That’s the key for us.”

Spurs boss Postecoglou was also pleased with the way Richarlison and Maddison handled the penalty when Rodrigo Bentancourt had to step in to tell the Brazil forward to give the ball to the stand-in captain.

“As long as they score, it doesn’t really bother me,” Postecoglou said.

“I thought Mathers was outstanding today. I think he felt at that point that Richie had been working awfully hard and he kind of started his season tonight.

“Goals are important for forwards so I thought Mathers made a great decision to put him in charge, but Ritchie had to put it in the back of the net and he did.”