Player Ratings: Tottenham 3-0 Stoke

To paraphrase one of Park Lane’s most inspired chants yesterday, how bad must Stoke be, we’re winning at home. And it was a delightful feeling to ease so comfortably to league victory at the Lane for the first time since October 27^th, as our attack clicked and our midfield bossed and our defence watched. The football was fluent and eye-catching, and the goals welcome rewards for Spurs’ complete dominance of the match.

Hugo Lloris – 7 – Had absolutely nothing to do, did it well.

Kyle Naughton – 7 – Again, had very little to do, but did make a great tackle on Assaidi late in the game and does look more solid at right-back.

Michael Dawson – 7 – Crouchy chose to stick to Vlad, and so Daws had very little to do, but his distribution was efficient.

Vlad Chiriches – 8 – As mentioned, 6ft 7in striker Peter Crouch, ex-Tottenham of course, opted to stick to the Romanian, but Vlad wasn’t to be perturbed, as he won 100% of his tackles and competed surprisingly well aerially, considering the height difference.

Zeki Fryers – 7 – A first Premier League start for the young full-back, and he looked solid throughout.

Aaron Lennon – 8 – A great performance from the winger, showing Spurs exactly what they miss when they don’t have a natural wide player. Provided an outlet throughout and ran the Stoke defence ragged, the only criticism can be the final ball on occasion but his super goal in the second half sealed the 3 points to cap an excellent individual performance.

Paulinho – 8 – The £17m summer signing brought his true Brazilian samba flair along to the Lane for the first time as he contributed to a total dominance of the midfield. Linked up with the front man beautifully with a series of tricks and flicks, and the Spurs faithful finally saw the £17m version of Paulinho.

Mousa Dembele – 9 – Sensational performance, and virtually faultless. Bossed the midfield from start to finish, retaining possession magnificently, instigating attacks, and completing 97% of his passes in the process. Capped off an already astounding performance with a well-taken goal from 20 yards – I just wish he could do it more often.

Christian Eriksen – 7 – Comparatively quiet in relation to the rest of the midfield but it was still a good performance from Eriksen, linking up well with Adebayor in particular and his full-back Fryers.

Roberto Soldado – 7 – Took his penalty well – of course – and proved again that he is excellent at linking up with the midfield and strike partner. Missed the post by inches with both a glancing header and an angled shot.

Emmanuel Adebayor – 8 – A brilliant performance from the Togolese forward, leading by example from the front, as he chased every ball and got stuck in to the Stoke defence, as well as winning the penalty and helping Spurs create chances in and around the penalty area.

Substitutes

Etienne Capoue – 6 – Came on for Paulinho, who hopefully is not seriously injured, and looked assured in midfield, although we were coasting already at the time of his arrival.

Nacer Chadli – 6 – On for Adebayor, but we had already won and he couldn’t display his attacking talents.

Erik Lamela – 6 – Worked hard to make things happen but ultimately, with the game sealed, the passion wasn’t there in the rest of the team.

Now onto 2 huge away games, at Old Trafford and the Emirates. COYS!