Tottenham returned to winning ways in the Premier League following a 4-0 victory over Burnley.
Gareth Bale struck twice either side of goals for Harry Kane and Lucas Moura as Jose Mourinho’s men picked up just their fourth league win of 2021.
Here’s how we rated the players on the day:
Hugo Lloris, 7 – Hardly had a save to make, although Chris Wood did strike the bar late on.
Serge Aurier, 7 – Back in the side and combined well with Bale in the opening period.
Toby Alderweireld, 8 – Played some of his excellent trademark long passes and was rarely troubled defensively.
Davinson Sanchez, 9 – His best display of the season. Put his body on the line with some brilliant blocks and was outstanding overall.
Sergio Regulion, 8 – Provided great energy and width down the left and grabbed another assist for Lucas’ goal.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, 7 – With Burnley’s defence nowhere to be seen at times, he cruised through, although appeared to damage his ankle in added-time, which was a worry.
Tanguy Ndombele, 8 – Looks at home in the middle of the Spurs midfield, and whilst he didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, it was another effortless performance.
Gareth Bale, 10 – The best player of the pitch. Two goals, the second of which was a beauty, and a wonderful assist for Kane’s goal on what was easily his the best afternoon of his second spell.
Lucas Moura, 8 – Didn’t give the Clarets defence a moments peace and continued his recent goalscoring form with a crisp finish to make it 3-0.
Heung Min Son, 9 – Didn’t get his goal, but came away with two assists, both for Bale, and was a constant threat, and could and should have had more but for some bad finishing.
Harry Kane, 8 – Controlled much of the first-half in the deeper role, although still managed to get himself on the scoresheet, albeit via a deflection. Should have added to his tally in the second-half, but was denied by Nick Pope and then missed a late sitter.
Substitutes:
Erik Lamela, 6 – Always looking to get involved, but it didn’t quite happen.
Dele Alli, 7 – Impressed during his late cameo, creating one chance for Son in particular.
Matt Doherty, N/A – Replaced Aurier in the closing stages.
For me the one negative was hojbjerg in the game. He played so deeply he almost was getting in the way of Toby and Davison. A lot of his passes also were backward passes. He seems of late to trying to protect the defence so much he is leaving a big space in midfield and ndombele on his own. Just saying a lot will disagree with me but he almost played us into trouble in the first half with a back pass when he could have passed forward.
Again, this nonsense with Lamela. He cannot play football.