How our Brazilian Spurs opened their Premier League accounts

Carlos Vinicius became the fifth Brazilian to score for us in the Premier League when he slotted home in Sunday night’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa.

Here’s a look back at the maiden league strikes for our Samba Spurs…

Gilberto

Spurs 4-0 West Ham - March, 2008

Brazilian full-back Gilberto found himself in unchartered territory when he came off the bench to score on his Premier League debut in a 4-0 victory over West Ham back in March, 2008. Having endured a difficult full debut for us in a UEFA Cup round of 16 first-leg defeat to PSV Eindhoven at White Hart Lane, the January arrival from German side Hertha Berlin certainly enjoyed his second appearance at our former home when the Hammers visited N17.

Dimitar Berbatov gave us the perfect start at the Lane with two goals inside the opening 11 minutes before the Irons were reduced to 10 men on the stroke of half-time as Luis Boa Morte saw red. On the hour mark, left-back Gilberto was then brought into the fray and five minutes from time he scored his first and only goal for us, ghosting into the box before picking out the bottom corner with a fine finish. Darren Bent then wrapped up the win with our fourth in the final minute, heading home Alan Hutton’s cross. A member of the Brazilian national team squads for both the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups, Gilberto spent just 18 months with us, making 10 appearances, before returning to his homeland where he continued to play until 2014.

Sandro

Chelsea 2-1 Spurs - April, 2011

It might have ended as a disappointing day for us in west London when we lost out 2-1 to Chelsea in April, 2011, but no Spurs fan will ever forget quite how Sandro gave us the lead that day at Stamford Bridge. Moving from his native Brazil to join us in the summer of 2010, the midfielder grew into life in north London and became a fan favourite at the Lane. Having shown just how talented he was in his defensive work, especially with a disciplined and commanding performance in our memorable 1-0 Champions League last 16 first-leg win over AC Milan at the San Siro in the February, the Brazilian then showed just how adept he was in finding the target from range as he launched a projectile missile of a strike into the roof of the net against the Blues.

Picking up the ball 30 yards from goal and being closed down by two Chelsea players, he quickly got the ball out of his feet before hitting it crisply on the half volley to send it arrowing past Petr Cech at the Bridge. Frank Lampard and a late strike from Salomon Kalou might have taken the points away from us that day but there was no taking away from the quality of the Brazilian’s strike. He then went on to repeat the feat in December, 2013, against Manchester United with another stunning long-ranger. After four years in north London, Sandro moved west across the capital to QPR and then had spells in Turkey and Italy before returning to his homeland last year to join Goias.

Paulinho

Cardiff 0-1 Spurs – September, 2013

Brazilians have a built a global reputation for their incredible skills on a football pitch - a standing that Paulinho certainly upheld via his maiden Premier League strike. Joining us from Brazilian outfit Corinthians in July, 2013, the midfielder made a bright start to life in England. Man of the Match in a 1-0 league win over Crystal Palace on his full debut, he then scored his first goal for us in a 5-0 win over Dinamo Tbilisi in the Europa League qualifying round before going on to open his league goalscoring account against Cardiff City.

Heading into the inaugural Premier League encounter between the sides, we had won three out of our first four games and we knew that if we took three points at the Cardiff City Stadium, we would move up to second. Yet, the then newly promoted Welsh outfit had started their debut campaign brightly, having lost just one of their opening four games, and they certainly made a game of it, frustrating us throughout. However, deep into stoppage time, Paulinho was able to produce the required piece of quality to break the Welsh blockade as he cutely back-heeled Erik Lamela’s cut back home to claim us all three points. Moving to China in 2015 to join Guangzhou Evergrande, the midfielder then had a season with FC Barcelona in 2017/18 but returned to Evergrande after that sole campaign, where he continues to ply his trade to this day.

Lucas Moura

Spurs 3-1 Fulham - August, 2018

In our first home game of what was an unforgettable season for both the Club and Lucas Moura, the Brazilian forward whipped home his first Premier League goal in our colours. Having gone through a period of adjustment following his move from Paris Saint Germain in January, 2018, Lucas hit the ground running when the 2018/19 season kicked-off. Impressing in pre-season, he continued that form into the new campaign and went on to break his duck in the league when we hosted Fulham at Wembley in August, 2018.

Opening the scoring on 43 minutes, the electric frontman was the quickest to a loose ball on the edge of the box before curling it sumptuously into the top right-hand corner of the net. The celebrations that followed showed just how much that first goal meant to the Brazilian. Fulham equalised shortly after the restart through Aleksandar Mitrovic, but a fine free-kick from Kieran Trippier put us back in front before a composed finish from Harry Kane wrapped up all three points late on.

Hitting the target twice at Old Trafford in a 3-0 win over Manchester United the following week, Lucas went on to win the Premier League’s Player of the Month award for August but his standout moment of the season was still to come as in May, 2019, he fired home his iconic hat-trick in the most dramatic of circumstances against Ajax which sent us to the 2019 Champions League Final.

Carlos Vinicius

Aston Villa 0-2 Spurs – March, 2021

On loan with us this season from Benfica, Carlos Vinicius opened his Premier League goalscoring account in an important victory for us on Sunday night at Villa Park. Having been a key part of the side during our Europa League run with six goals to his name in the competition, the striker has had to bide his time for his opportunity in England’s top flight.

With the team in a difficult situation following a disappointing week in which we lost out in the north London derby before our journey in Europe came to an end at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday, 'Vini' was given the nod at Villa Park, only his second start in the Premier League.

We might have started slowly in the West Midlands but when we eventually got a sniff of a chance on 29 minutes, the striker made no mistake, slamming home compatriot Lucas Moura's cut back to give us the lead. That was the spark we needed and from there, we went on to control the affair, later making sure of all three points with Harry Kane rifling home the second from the penalty spot.