Tottenham produced a Jose Mourinho masterclass to defeat Manchester City to go top of the Premier League; here are the player ratings.
Hugo Lloris 7 – Despite all of Man City’s pressure the French goalkeeper suprisingly didn’t actually have too much to do thanks to his brilliant defenders infront of him, but he made a great late save from a corner to maintain his second consecutive clean sheet.
Serge Aurier 8 – The ivorian defended brilliantly throughout the game and had the beating of the in-form Ferran Torres one-on-one and he showed the patience and defensive prowess that many have doubted him for.
Eric Dier 9 – The defender was outstanding for the whole game and is as big a reason as anyone as to why Tottenham won this game. Despite many debates about whether he is a centre back, Dier made many tackles, blocks and interceptions to help keep a clean sheet.
Toby Alderweireld 10 – Apart from injuring his groin, this was an inch-perfect performance from the Belgian defender; he made multiple last-ditch tackles to prevent City from scoring and is building a nice partnership with Dier.
Embed from Getty ImagesSergio Reguilon 8 – The Spanish full-back didn’t give Riyad Mahrez a sniff throughout the game and defended absolutely brilliantly, with a number of recovery tackles. Although he did lose the ball a couple of times in bad areas, his pace provided Spurs with a great outlet.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg 10 – What a performance from the Danish midfielder; he was everywhere. He battled all over the pitch and countless times won tackles, before setting away the attacking players. He also filled the gaps really well and has turned out to be a phenomenal signing for Spurs
Moussa Sissoko 7 – Although the midfielder may not have the technical abilities of the rest of the squad, he is an important cog in this midfield. The Frenchman played almost as a defender at times and battled extremely hard to not give City’s stars any space.
Tanguy Ndombele 8 – The midfielder provided a brilliant assist for Son’s goal after turning past City’s midfield. Although he tired as the game went on and had to be replaced after 65 minutes, the Frenchman gave Spurs a relief from City’s attacks with his brilliant ball-retention.
Steven Bergwijn 6 – The Dutch forward worked extremely hard throughout the game and really helped out Aurier by tracking back. However, he didn’t really impose himself on the game and show Mourinho why he should be starting.
Heung-Min Son 8 – Son loves a goal against City and the Korean didn’t disappoint, with a brilliant run in-behind and finish Past Ederson for the first goal, which takes him to the top of the Premier League scoring chart. He didn’t affect the game too much after but he worked extremely hard in defence too.
Embed from Getty ImagesHarry Kane 9 – It would normally be suprising for a striker to get such a high rating when they didn’t score but Kane was absolutely everywhere. His movement dragged Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias out of the space Son ran in to for the first goal; the defenders couldn’t live with him. The England captain also set up the second goal to take his Premier League assist tally to 9 and he was tackling people all over the pitch.
Substitutes:
Giovani Lo Celso 8 – The Argentine made an instanct impact by scoring 35 seconds after entering the pitch, with a brilliant low finish through the legs of Ederson. The midfielder helped to close the game out by keeping the ball brilliantly.
Embed from Getty ImagesLucas Moura 6 – The Brazilian’s pace was an important outlet for Spurs as they tried to close the game out and worked hard in defence too.
Joe Rodon – N/A – The defender replaced the injured Alderweireld late on in the game, but didn’t have enough time to impact the game at all, although he didn’t make any mistakes.
Jose Mourinho 9 – This was a classic Mourinho performance and he would have been absolutely delighted with the way the players stuck to his game plan. Not even the Portuguese could have imagines sitting pretty at the top when he walked in 14 months ago, but he is proving all the doubters wrong.
Embed from Getty ImagesEderson 4 – The goalkeeper could have done much better for both of Tottenham’s goals; the Brazilian rushed out for the first goal way too far and gave Son a chance to shoot early through his legs. He did the same for the second goal, as Lo Celso also slotted the ball through his legs.
Embed from Getty ImagesKyle Walker 6 – The former Tottenham man dealt with Bergwijn pretty well and managed to keep him quiet throughout, but he never really imposed his attacking qualities.
Ruben Dias 5 – This would have been a big learning curve for the young defender; Kane ran him ragged throughout and he got dragged out of position for the first goal.
Aymeric Laporte 5 – Just like his partner Dias, Laporte was ran ragged by Kane and was dragged out of position for the first goal. The defender did score with a nice finish, but it was disallowed.
Joao Cancelo 6 – The defender played as a midfielder for most of the game due to City’s dominance and for the most part of the game dealt with Son well but struggled to impact further up the pitch.
Rodri 6 – The midfielder was one of City’s better performers and controlled most of the possession that the team had. Although, he was caught way out of position for Spurs’ second goal.
Bernardo Silva 5 – The Portuguese played very high up the pitch, but he didn’t affect the game in the way many people would have expected and wasted many good opportunities.
Kevin De Bruyne 5 – The Belgian midfielder had a very rare off day and some of his passing was surprisingly wayward, causing many attacks to break down.
Embed from Getty ImagesRiyad Mahrez 4 – The Algerian winger was far from his best and wasted good opportunities far too many times. Reguilon had the beating of him throughout the game.
Ferran Torres 5 – The winger started the game confidently and looked dangerous in the game, but struggled to make any real impact on the game.
Gabriel Jesus 5 – The Brazilian forward worked extremely hard and made some good runs but he didn’t get much service. He was unlucky to be penalised for handball for the disallowed goal.
Embed from Getty ImagesSubstitutes
Raheem Sterling N/A
Phil Foden N/A
Pep Guardiola 5 – Guardiola fell right into Mourinho’s trap for the second time in as many games against Spurs. The Spanish manager needs to work out a way of beating teams who sit back and counter City, such as Spurs and Leicester.
