James Maddison says he decided to let Richarlison take Tottenham’s penalty to help boost the confidence of his teammate.

Spurs earned a 1-0 victory over AZ Alkmaar at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium thanks to Richarlison‘s second-half penalty.

Richarlison and Maddison had a momentary disagreement over who should take the penaltyGetty

Maddison, who was Ange Postecoglou‘s captain on the night, picked up the ball and looked set to take the spot-kick, however, the Brazilian forward also made it clear that he wanted to take it.

Instead of making a scene, the England midfielder took the decision to give the former Everton forward the ball – a move which paid off as he converted from 12 yards.

Explaining his conversation with Richarlison, Maddison told TNT Sports: “Initially we both wanted to take it. I’m a senior player, I was the captain today, I was going to take the penalty.

“There was a little thought in my head, when I was stood there I had a little conversation with myself and just thought, ‘Richy’s coming back from an injury, it can be difficult, especially for a striker’ – I learnt that last year when I had a long injury, it took me a while to get my first goal.

“So a split-second decision to let him take it and that’ll do him the world of good.”

When asked if that what being a captain’s all about, Maddison added: “Just leadership and it’s a huge honour but even if I wasn’t the captain… I still like to think I’d make decisions that are best for the team.

“I thought it would be best if Richy took it, he’s a good penalty taker.

“There was no thought about that, whether he’d be able to get the job done and hopefully that gives him a big boost.”

Ange Postecoglou also addressed the situation, telling TNT Sports: “As long as they score mate, I couldn’t care less.

“The boys worked that out and I thought Madders played really well today – he was really creative for us and Richy worked hard to get back in the team so it’s great for him to get a goal.”

In the end, Maddison let the Brazilian take the spot kickGetty

That penalty was Richarlison’s first goal of the season after being limited to just 34 minutes of action before the game.

So far in his Tottenham career the Brazilian has scored just 17 times in 71 appearances for the club.

With Dominic Solanke joining from Bournemouth over the summer, it feels like this will be a big season for Richarlison if he’s to prove himself as the man to lead the line in north London.

Next up for Tottenham is a trip to face Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon.

The win over the Dutch side sees Tottenham go second in the Europa League table with a maximum nine points from their opening three games.

Their next European outing sees them travel to Turkish Super Lig leaders Galatasaray on November 7.