It took a penalty kick for Tottenham to edge past visitors Middlesbrough at White Hart Lane. So how did the hosts perform individually?
Hugo Lloris, 6
Assured for the most part; a tad unsteady towards the end, perhaps a result of having nothing to do for an hour. Flapped at one cross that could have led to an equaliser.
Kyle Walker, 7
Barely got a delivery into the box, but kept a cool head when Middlesbrough put a bit of pressure on. Showed composure on the ball and proficiently dealt with Fabio’s overlapping runs.
Eric Dier, 8
Excellent in possession, slowing things down whenever it became frantic. Made three or four crucial headed interceptions, too.
Toby Alderweireld, 7
His passing wasn’t quite as accurate as usual but he was defiant at the back, not giving the troublesome Adama Traore a way past past him.
Ben Davies, 6
Dallied on the ball and was caught out a few times, drawing some jeers from the stands. Failed to emulate Rose’s tenacity but put in a couple of promising crosses.
Victor Wanyama, 8
Showed a ridiculous level of determination, chasing down just about every Middlesbrough player at one point or another. Fan favourite status achieved.
Mousa Dembele, 7
Bit of a habit of going quiet in second halves lately. But he was terrific for a good hour, dribbling his way out of trouble with an absurd level of ease.
Christian Eriksen, 7
A little indecisive with his final ball, particularly when Spurs were looking for a second goal. Tried admirably to unlock Middlesbrough’s resolute defence at 0-0, only stopped by some impressive last-ditch defending.
Dele Alli, 7
Midway through the first half, during Tottenham’s best spell, Alli linked the midfield and attack with some sublime touches and incisive passing. Quietened after the goal.
Heung-Min Son, 8
Was a constant menace, directly running at the visitors at every opportunity. He was sometimes indecisive with his final ball, but he won the penalty that earned the points.
Harry Kane, 6
Has had a few games like this lately — he looked way short of his usual sharpness. Clinical when it mattered, though, defiantly slotting in the winner from the spot.
Substitutes
Moussa Sissoko, N/A
Only played around ten minutes. Got Spurs up the pitch successfully when they were under pressure. Much better on the left/through the middle than on the right.
Harry Winks, N/A
Replaced Alli with two minutes remaining to waste some time.
Vincent Janssen, N/A
Introduced even later than Winks.
Am i the only person that thought Christian Erikson was crap today ! His corners and free kicks were appalling and yet he was allowed to take them all today ! Get your finger out Christian !! We need you back too your best !!
i agree Dave he more than ever never makes a corner past the first post surly we must have someone who could mix it up more and i can not remember the last time he put a free kick in the net but for all that on hes day he is a class act
No I watched the game with 5 guys and every single one of us thought he was awful again. Maybe not as bad as he was against Sunderland or City but close. I cannot beleive that he almost never gets subbed off?? Even late in games when he played ok, if we are holding a lead certainly he is the last player you want on the pitch!! He will never put a foot in to save a game so why does he get 90 every week??
Have to agree, I have read some review saying he was world class and a magician, I think he is could be but was not is this game. Erikson can change a game in a second by threading a ball through but has not been at the races for the last few games, personally I would have had him off and given Sissoko a run out early. It looked to me that pure brute force was going to have more success than trying a pass through the eye of a needle or in Boro’s case through a ten man defence. Need Erikson back on top form for Saturday!
What worries me most (apart from Eriksen’s failure to deliver from set-pieces) is our lack of a game changer on the bench. The majority of teams that come to The Lane are going to get 10 men behind the ball; even on their own grounds like Sunderland. You look at our bench and the best you can see are Sissoko, Janssen, Onomah, Winks and possibly Lamela or N’Koudou if they’re not injured. None of them is likely to make the opposition tremble if they start warming up and are unlikely to make much of an impact.
Agree with the above regarding Eriksen being too lightweight to stay on when we are in a “backs to the wall” situation in the last 10 or 15 minutes.
Got to agree with you guys.Eriksen’s set pieces were generally dreadful and when did he last score with a free kick?I have to disagree that Son was man of the match by the commentary team.Yes he did try to take on defenders,but it was clear early on that they generally had the measure of him and there were enough of them.He doesn’t release the ball at the right time and he is greedy in his shot taking when better options are available.
He does get some useful goals but for me I don’t think he is a starter.However that situation is complicated by the lack of choice from the bench.If we had that game changer would he not be starting matches?We also have our financial restrictions so if we managed to sign the game changer would he be happy on the bench with the money we could offer?
Perhaps seeing Sunderland’s result yesterday we didn’t do too badly up there.But every week there are some crazy results in this league.The “smaller” clubs will always pack their defence against teams like us and even Chelsea have eeked out a 1-0 win against them.Bearing that in mind yesterday’s win was enough,3 points and a clean sheet.However with the way we play let’s hope Liverpool don’t turn their fortunes around against us.We are in a good place.
1:0 winning is very valuable for the season. Why so skeptical?
Our Son created so many chances, and we defended solidly as one team to the end of the game.