A Dier future? Ndombele becomes fifth Spurs player to open Premier League season with debut goal

London, August 11: Tottenham fans have a new hero in Tanguy Ndombele.

The France midfielder marked his Premier League debut with a goal to help Mauricio Pochettino's side defeat Aston Villa on Saturday.

With Spurs struggling to break down Villa after going behind to John McGinn's goal, Ndombele levelled matters with an expertly taken strike from 20 yards out that left the excellent Tom Heaton with little chance.

The goal proved to be the catalyst for Spurs, who went on to win 3-1 thanks to two late finishes from captain Harry Kane.

Seventeen players have now scored a debut goal in the Premier League for Spurs, stretching back to Steve Sedgley in 1992, but only five have done so on the first day of the season.

The question is, will Ndombele follow a similar career path in north London?

Jurgen Klinsmann: Sheffield Wednesday 3-4 Tottenham, 20/08/1994

Klinsmann swan-dived his way into the hearts of Spurs fans with a goal in this opening-day thriller 25 years ago.

The visitors had surrendered a 2-0 lead at Hillsborough, but Nick Barmby put them back ahead and Klinsmann made sure of the win with an emphatic far-post header.

The Germany star had a fine season in England, but he left for Bayern Munich less than a year after this famous moment.

Sebastien Bassong: Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool, 16/08/2009

Spurs ended the previous season with a 3-1 loss at Anfield but earned some measure of revenge thanks to Bassong.

Steven Gerrard's penalty cancelled out Benoit Assou-Ekotto's opener, only for Bassong to head Luka Modric's delivery into the net and send White Hart Lane into raptures.

The centre-back did not have too many moments to celebrate in a Spurs shirt for the next three years, eventually heading to Norwich City, where he had a more positive time of things.

Roberto Soldado: Crystal Palace 0-1 Tottenham, 18/08/2013

Spurs owed their opening-day win and London derby bragging rights to Soldado, who scored the only goal here at Selhurst Park.

The striker, the man tasked with filling the void left by Gareth Bale's €100million move to Real Madrid, netted from the penalty spot to mark his debut in style.

The goals did not exactly flow for Soldado after that. Just six more followed in 52 Premier League appearances before he left for Villarreal in 2015.

Eric Dier: West Ham 0-1 Tottenham, 16/08/2014

Debut goals do not get much better for anyone in a Tottenham shirt.

With the game goalless in the third minute of injury time, and with Spurs having had 10 men since Kyle Naughton's 29th-minute red card, Dier ran on to Harry Kane's pass, moved beyond Adrian and slotted home.

It was a fine finish from a young defender signed for a lowly reported fee of £4m from Sporting CP, who has gone on to enjoy a positive Spurs career - even if regular starts are now sometimes hard to come by.