The love behind Deki's ‘L’ celebration at Old Trafford
Mon 30 September 2024, 17:15|
Tottenham Hotspur
Dejan Kulusevski dedicated his goal in our 3-0 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford to the little girl he describes as his ‘biggest motivation’ - his daughter, Leonie.
Deki struck at the start of the second half to provide a cushion at 2-0 that our play deserved after dominating the first half but only having Brennan Johnson’s early goal to show for it at half-time.
Playing at the top of his powers and thriving in a central role, the Sweden international captain provided an instinctive ‘airtime’ finish, fashioning a little touch over Andre Onana after Brennan’s cross was deflected into the air for that crucial second just minutes into the second half.
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A new father earlier this year with his partner, Eldina, Deki celebrated by making an ‘L’ shape with his left hand - a new celebration following ‘the silencer’, his regular goalscoring tribute to NBA great Lebron James and stuffing the matchball up his shirt as a show of support when Eldina was pregnant after scoring at Forest in December.
Asked about the 'L' celebration on The Review Show after a day to remember at the Theatre of Dreams, Deki told us: “That was all about Leonie, my biggest motivation, my daughter. Just thinking about her face and playing football, you know, I want her to have the best father in the world and that's what I'm trying to be.
“I already loved life, but when you have a kid, everything gets 100 times better. Just seeing her grow up, it’s made football even more fun.”
Deki said of his finish, ‘when I don't have time to think, you know, then it's always the good things that happen’, and described the team’s performance and result as ‘amazing’.
“This is why you’ve trained, to go out and play like this, in a big stadium against a big team,” he said. “We were dominant. We pressured them so much they didn't know what to do with the ball, and that's how we want to play. We want to be aggressive and create chances, and we created so many chances. It was amazing and we enjoyed today... and then tomorrow, we get back to work.”
