PLAYER RATINGS: Tottenham 2-1 Sunderland

Hugo Lloris – He had no chance to save Larsson’s free kick and had nothing much to do other than kick the ball long for most of the game. However, he produced a world-class double save and a great save to help his team win the game.

Kyle Walker – He kept coming and attacking the Sunderland back-line but he was rather wasteful and could not produce a single decent cross. His energy was encouraging though.

Danny Rose – He was always in action as he gave Chadli an option every time the Belgian had the ball. He also showed composure at the back. However, he should have produced better passes and crosses.

Eric Dier – The young Englishman got his chance to start and delivered a great performance. Unlike his centre back partner Vertonghen, he easily dealt with the threat of Defoe and Fletcher.

Jan Vertonghen – The Belgian had an interesting afternoon as he opened the scoring, got away with a no penalty call against Defoe, gave away the free kick that led to Larsson’s goal, then had a goal disallowed for no reason.

Benjamin Stambouli– The Frenchman provided really good protection for his back-four and showed really energy and desire to win the ball and start the attacks.

Christian Eriksen – He was Tottenham’s best player on the pitch by a mile. Even though he started the game on the right, he started to operate in the middle after Sunderland equalized. He delivered the cross for Spurs’ first goal and he got another late winner.

Mousa Dembele – His pressing and tackling were on point but he was too predictable on the ball and did not show enough creativity to stay in the game for 90 minutes.

Roberto Soldado – The Spaniard was a baffling choice in Pochettino’s starting XI and he couldn’t get a goal again. He had a decent chance in the 25^th minute but his touch was poor but there was no excuse for not scoring Eriksen’s brilliant cross.

Nacer Chadli – The winger was in a fine form before this game and had the fans excited but he couldn’t affect the score line. He showed energy to attack Billy Jones but he was tightly marked most of the game and his touch alluded him most of the game.

Harry Kane – He started deeper than he usually does and that definitely affected his productivity. He had a perfect chance to score at the end of the first half when he hit the post, but he got livelier as the game went on.

Subs

Emmanuel Adebayor – He came on for Soldado in the 60^th minute and played as a target man. He did not pass the ball to wide open Chadli in a counter attack and tried to score a spectacular goal rather than working the ball.

Andros Townsend – He was the best off the bench as he used his pace to the full effect. He tried his usual long range effort that went wide. Then in the 87^th minute, he brought the ball from his own half to the opposition box and played it to Eriksen who scored the winner.

Paulinho – He came on late for Chadli and did not have much of an impact in the game.