Tottenham recorded three big points in the Premier League this afternoon with a 4-0 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park. Let’s take a look at how the individual players got on:
Guglielmo Vicario – 7 – Only really called into action to catch or punch the odd ball. Ever reliable with his feet while passing out from the back but a quiet afternoon in all.
Pedro Porro – 7.5 – First game back in the side after a couple of weeks out. Wasn’t as effective as normal in those pockets between the midfield and attack but put in a tidy performance. What I would say is that it was perhaps one of his best defensive performances; he was solid at the back.
Cristian Romero – 8.5 – Not his composed self at times in the first 45. Romero consistently found some nice little line-breaking passes, but he also had his pocket picked a couple of times by Ollie Watkins. In the second half, when Spurs needed him to be a leader alongside newbie Dragusin, Romero was incredible. He even managed to restrain himself and not fight anyone during the melee. Progress!
Micky van de Ven – 8.5 – The term Rolls Royce gets overused in football, but Van de Ven really is one. With that pace, that strength and that reading of the game, he really is near-impossible to beat. The only worry is those injuries from such an explosive style of play. Another one today.
Destiny Udogie – 8 – Far more active in the pockets than Porro on the other side. It was a story of nearly passes for Udogie. He burst into space a fair few times but that final pass was always blocked or misshit. A fantastic performance nonetheless. Was on the receiving end of that nasty McGinn red card.
MORE SPURS STORIES
Yves Bissouma – 8 – Neat and tidy for the most part, but he did give the ball away in dangerous positions a couple of times. We didn’t quite see that all-action, dancing, driving Bissouma we are used to seeing. In the second half, he kept things simple and kept Spurs ticking over really well.
Pape Matar Sarr – 8 – A little quiet in the first half but what a ball to assist James Maddison’s opener! He almost had no right to find his man from there. Controlled the game for a 15-minute period after the Spurs goals then came off for Bentancur.
James Maddison – 8 – Struggled to find the pockets of space he wanted and didn’t quite execute the final pass when he did find them in the first half. In the second, he had a lot more space, especially after the red card. That run and finish to open the scoring was like a prime number nine too!
Dejan Kulusevski – 8 – A quiet game for the Swede in the first 45 as most of Tottenham’s good work came down the left. He put in a couple of teasing crosses with his left foot, but that was about it. In the second half, it was his build-up play that finally unlocked the door and created all three goals. A couple of flashes that ultimately won Spurs the game even though he didn’t have his best individual day.
Heung-min Son – 8.5 – A goal and two assists, and Son wasn’t really at it today. Seemed to lack his normal killer instinct at times. Burst into life in the last ten minutes, to be fair. But if you’re going to have a below-par day, do it during a solid win when you get three goal involvements, I guess!
Brennan Johnson – 8.5 – The most impressive attacker on display as he actually took defenders on and beat his man a number of times. This didn’t always result in a testing cross or killer pass but he kept plugging away and made a huge difference for Spurs. Deserved his goal and then some.
Substitutes:
Radu Dragusin – 7.5 – His biggest test in a Spurs shirt so far, coming into a high-pressure situation. And he looked like he was made for it. Barely put a foot wrong out there.
Rodrigo Bentancur – 7 – Came on to help control the game with Aston Villa down to ten men and did his job very nicely. We all saw that foul on Matty Cash too.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – N/A
Timo Werner – N/A – Another goal for Timo!
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
