Dele Alli said a moment to savour was soured on Saturday after his first Premier League goal was followed by a quickfire equaliser.
The England Under-19s midfielder put Tottenham Hotspur into the lead against Leicester City 16 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute – but the Foxes hit back within seconds.
Dele Alli
Born: Milton Keynes, 11 April 1986
Clubs played for: MK Dons, Tottenham
Debut: MK Dons v Cambridge, 2 November 2012
England career: U17s, U18s, U19s
“It was a dream come true, I wanted to score that first goal and I was so happy to do it but when they scored straight after, it completely killed it,” the 19-year-old told TottenhamHotspur.com.
“I found myself in the box and it was a natural reaction to put it in the net. I went straight over to the Spurs fans and thank them for their support.”
Alli signed for Spurs from MK Dons on a five-and-a-half-year deal last February, but was immediately loaned back to the League One club for the remainder of the season.
A knee injury hampered him, but he still contributed 16 goals from midfield, saw MK Dons to promotion to the Championship and was voted Football League young player of the season.
Milton Keynes-born Alli went straight into Tottenham’s first-team squad, and made his first-team debut at Manchester United on the opening day of the Premier League season.
“First of all, I’m delighted to get some game time,” said Alli after the 1-1 draw with Leicester.
“Everyone wants to play as much as they can and I’m thankful to the gaffer for bringing me on.
“I’d definitely say we were the stronger team but you can’t take anything away from Leicester, they’ve started the season so well and it’s a tough place to come and win, but we should have taken the three points.”
