Second-half goals from Carlos Vinicius and Giovani Lo Celso helped Tottenham secure top spot in the Europa League following a 2-0 win over Royal Antwerp.
Here’s how every Spurs player rated on the night.
Joe Hart, 6 – Didn’t have a meaningful save to make on what was a comfortable night for the former City man.
Matt Doherty, 6 – Given his first opportunity at his right wing-back, but didn’t offer much offensively.
Davinson Sanchez, 6 – Caught out which led to an early Antwerp chance, but got away with it. Should’ve added a third with a late header, but got it all wrong.
Japhet Tanganga, 7 – Recovered from an early shoulder injury to put in a solid showing.
Ben Davies, 7 – Battled well and did everything that was needed of him.
Sergio Regulion, 6 – Quiet opening 45 minutes at left wing-back, before he was replaced at half-time by Bergwijn with Crystal Palace clearly in mind.
Harry Winks, 5 – Struggling at present. The game seemed to pass him by, and he didn’t appear too happy when replaced by Ndombele after just 58 minutes.
Giovani Lo Celso, 8 – An outstanding performance from the Argentine, who was comfortably Tottenham’s best player on the night, and the only one that gave Jose Mourinho something to consider ahead of Sunday. Almost scored after a fine run and strike in the first-half, although did get his goal with an excellent finish 20 minutes from time, his fifth this term in all competitions.
Lucas Moura, 6 – Lively, but frustrating. Created good first-half chances for both Vinicius and Bale.
Gareth Bale, 6 – It was his spectacular free-kick that hit the bar, and then landed kindly for Vinicius to open the scoring, but contributed little else besides that.
Carlos Vinicius, 6 – Missed a great first-half chance when one-on-one, but did net his third goal in two Europa League games from close-range in the 57th-minute.
Substitutes
Steven Bergwijn, 7 – Introduced at the break and injected some much-needed energy into Spurs’ attacking play following a poor first-half.
Tanguy Ndombele, 6 – Came on for the final 30 minutes after missing out on Sunday.
Harry Kane, 6 – Somehow headed wide from close-range moments after coming on for Vinicius, but made amends by assisting Lo Celso for Tottenham’s second minutes later – his 12th in all competitions.
Heung Min Son, 6 – Had two good efforts moments after coming on, but was twice denied by Alireza Berianvand in the Antwerp goal.
Moussa Sissoko, N/A – Replaced Lucas late on.
It’s interesting how people see the game differently, I’ve just read an article that said Winks was one of our best performers., and looked angry to be hooked. I felt the game did pass him by to a certain extent because Spurs played a lot of long balls up to the front 3 (who are all good in the air). Bearing this in mind I thought Winks played pretty well. Lo Celso I agree was excellent, and finished playing on the right of a front 3 – wouldn’t be surprised to see him start there on Sunday.
I would say that Winks was quiet for the most part, but he definitely was not Spurs worst player imo.
That distinction goes to Sanchez, not for the first time this season.
Agree with both of you, but Winks is in this position because of these types of performances. I have no problem with him, but his form has been average (at best) for a while now. If he wants to cut it under Mourinho he has to grab opportunities like last night and show the boss that he needs him in the first 11. Personally I feel that he’s lost any ability to play on the half turn and look to move the play on quickly, something that is fundamental to the way we play at the moment, and he isn’t as defensively solid/strong as Pierre and Mous. So unless he changes I can’t see his situation changing any time soon. Shame, but if you want to win things then there’ll always be disappointed players in your squad.