Player Ratings: Spurs 1-1 Chelsea

A spirited, high tempo London derby eventually ended in a solitary point each after an end-to-end second half. Icelandic Gylfi Sigurdsson gave Spurs the league with his 3^rd league goal in 3 games but John Terry equalised with a glancing header midway through the second half.

Chelsea rallied in the second half to go for the 3 points but when Fernando Torres was sent off, the tone changed and Spurs went on the offensive. Overall, a draw was a fair result as both sides had chances to win the match. Tottenham go top of the table, at least for a few hours.

Hugo Lloris – 8 – Played excellently, thwarting Chelsea attacks on numerous occasions as well as demonstrating a supreme command of his penalty area. Made two great saves from Torres and Schurrle as they raced through on goal in the second half.

Kyle Walker – 7 – Performed well – a massive improvement on his horror show when we hosted Chelsea in October last year – and limited himself going forward to ensure that he wouldn’t get caught out of position, which could have been fatal against a team as creative as Chelsea.

Michael Dawson – 6 – Had an OK game but was at fault for the goal when he lost Terry as the free-kick was being delivered. We’ve conceded 2 goals this season and they have both been mistakes from Dawson. The sooner Kaboul comes back, the better.

Jan Vertonghen – 8 – An excellent performance from Super Jan, coping well with the threat of Torres and generally cutting out anything that came in his direction. Did well to keep his head as Torres lost his, when the Spaniard scratched him.

Kyle Naughton – 7 – The greatest compliment I can give Naughton is that I hardly noticed he was on the pitch. He put in a much tidier display than against Cardiff although he should have done better in preventing the Torres cross from the right that nearly gave Oscar a tap-in.

Paulinho – 7 – Another excellent performance from Paulinho who never seems to stop running although he should have scored at least one in the first half.

Mousa Dembele – 8 – Sublime performance from Mousa, combining flair and flashes of exuberance with tenacity and defensive awareness. Awarded man of the match by BT Sport and deservedly so. A beautiful dinked pass set Defoe away although the striker scuffed his shot.

Andros Townsend – 7 – Pacy and skilful down the right wing and was clearly striving not to shoot so often, but I think it will not be long until Erik Lamela takes his place in the side.

Christian Eriksen – 7 – Had a huge impact on the goal and was generally bright and inventive in the first half, however he faded out of the game in the second half as Spurs struggled to get hold of the ball.

Gylfi Sigurdsson – 7 – Took his finish extremely well as he netted his 3^rd goal in 3 league games. He always looked a threat when he cut inside and I think it is evident that he and Eriksen, with their careers still in their infancy, can form a devastating partnership for Spurs.

Roberto Soldado – 6 – Toiled as ever but didn’t have too much of an impact on the game. Still, a decent touch allowed for Sigurdsson’s goal and when the striker doesn’t receive service, it doesn’t matter whether they are RVP or Rasiak.

Substitutes

Lewis Holtby – 6 – Came on with a short while to go and played well, helping us to retain possession after Chelsea had been piling the pressure on. Deserves a Premier League start in my opinion.

Nacer Chadli – 5 – Surprised that the Belgian came on instead of Lamela but I think AVB’s rationale was that Chadli would readily track back. However, he was wasteful in possession and won’t be too pleased with his little cameo appearance.

Jermain Defoe – 6 – Should have done better with the chance presented to him by a beautiful chip from Dembele, but he did look dangerous in his short time on the pitch.

COYS!