Tottenham 3-0 Burnley, Premier League: Thomas Frank Lauds Richarlison After 'Dream Start'

Thomas Frank hailed "exceptional" Richarlison, who scored a brace to help the Dane make a winning start to life in the Premier League with Tottenham.

Spurs ran out 3-0 winners against Burnley in Frank's first league game in charge, with Brennan Johnson also scoring after Richarlison had netted a sensational scissor-kick.

It marks Spurs' joint-biggest matchday one victory in the Premier League, alongside their 4-1 win over Southampton in 2022-23.

It perhaps should come as no surprise, as Tottenham have faced Burnley more often than they have any other side on home soil in the competition without ever losing (won nine, drawn one).

Richarlison has now scored 13 goals in his last 16 Premier League starts for Spurs, including nine goals in his last nine starts at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.  

And Frank was delighted with Spurs' performance as a whole, but reserved extra praise for the Brazilian.

"Perfect start or dream start, we all know we need to follow up on it," Frank said. "I will just enjoy it, and I hope the players, the club and the fans enjoy it, because that is important.

"If I'm brutally honest, I felt we were a little bit out of sync at times, but the overall performance was good. I like the mentality and the hard work. We worked a lot on crosses, which is big for me, and we scored from two of them. That's an element I was very happy with.

"What a performance from Richarlison. His work rate, his intensity and, on top of that, two goals – especially the last one – is exceptional.

"The first one is definitely easier to score without being easy, but I have a striker that takes those two chances and helps us win the game.

"It is only the second game of the season, there is a long way to go, but very positive with him. I'm a little disappointed that, so early, we have a goal of the season [contender]!"

Spurs were without Yves Bissouma, who was left out of Spurs' UEFA Super Cup loss to Paris Saint-Germain due to disciplinary reasons, but Frank confirmed the reason for Saturday's absence.

"Unfortunately, he got injured in training yesterday," he said of Bissouma. "We need to look into how much it is."

Burnley's return to the Premier League did not go to plan, and they have now lost their last four opening matches in the competition.

The Clarets conceded three goals in this game, having gone through the entirety of last season's Championship campaign without conceding more than a single goal.

Scott Parker's side showed flashes of promise, accumulating 1.1 expected goals (xG) from their 14 chances to Spurs' 2.3 from 16 shots, and the coach acknowledged a slow start ultimately cost them on Saturday.

"The fine margins of the Premier League. That's the main thing that comes out of this," he said. "We started slowly, and Tottenham put us under a lot of pressure.

"We went a goal down and responded well, creating chances. We missed a massive chance on about 58 minutes to get back in it, and then they produced a world-class finish, and it took the game away from us."