Plenty of positives for Spurs, but Soldado, Dier and Dembele were below par.
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Tottenham Hotspur recorded their fourth Premier League win of the season on Sunday by beating Hull City 2-1 at the KC Stadium.
Hull took the lead on eight minutes when former Spurs midfielder Jake Livermore rifled a low drive into the bottom corner of Hugo Lloris’s goal.
Spurs were handed a huge boost shortly after half time, when Gaston Ramirez was shown a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident involving Jan Vertonghen.
With their numerical advantage, Mauricio Pochettino’s men dominated the remainder of the game and drew level on 61 minutes, Harry Kane netting his 11th goal of the season.
Tottenham had to wait until the 89th minute before the winner arrived, but it was worth the wait. Christian Eriksen worked a yard of space and unleashed a superb effort which flew into the back of the net from 25 yards.
The win moves Spurs up to 10th in the Premier League table.
Here’s how Pochettino’s men rated:
GK: Hugo Lloris – 6/10
Made a couple of fine saves to keep Spurs in the game in the first half, but the Frenchman, who captained Spurs today, was far from convincing with crosses.
RB: Eric Dier – 5/10
Picked up a totally unnecessary yellow card for a foul on Andrew Robertson, before subbed at half time for tactical reasons.
LB: Ben Davies 6/10
In the absence of Danny Rose, Davies was given his first Premier League start of the season. He did OK, but nothing spectacular. Rose should regain his place easily when he returns from injury.
CB: Jan Vertonghen – 7/10
The injury to Younes Kaboul was a blessing in disguise for Spurs. Vertonghen did a much better job as Tottenham’s main man in the back four.
CB: Federico Fazio – 6/10
Still looks a tad slow for the Premier League, but his positioning was good.
Ryan Mason – 7/10
Got stuck in and tried to link up with Tottenham’s front four whenever possible. Got clattered by Livermore, but soldiered through the final 15 minutes, with Spurs having already made their three subs.
CM: Mousa Dembele – 5/10
Coasted through the game before being replaced by Aaron Lennon, who was a significant improvement.
CAM: Erik Lamela – 5/10
Many tidy touches, but his final ball, including shots and corners, were far from good enough.
CAM: Harry Kane – 7/10
Was deployed in then number 10 role, behind Roberto Soldado, but got into the box as often as possible. Showed excellent reactions and composure to slot home a rebound after Eriksen’s free kick had struck the post.
Christian Eriksen – 8/10
Two moments of high quality from the Dane ultimately won it for Spurs – his free kick which led to Kane’s goal and his long-range winner in the last minute. In general play, Eriksen improved significantly after dropping into a deeper midfield role following Dembele’s departure.
Roberto Soldado – 4/10
Looked scared to shoot or commit a defender. When he did have a go at goal, he fluffed his lines, scuffing wide from close range. Limped off with an injury late on.
Subs:
Vlad Chiriches – 7/10
He has been awful at centre-half for most of this season, but Chiriches had a fine game at right-back. He frequently overlapped and provided a genuine attacking threat.
Aaron Lennon – 7/10
Thrived thanks to the extra space which came as a consequence of Ramirez’s red card. He was positive, frequently committing defenders, and his crossing was much better than usual.
Paulinho – 6/10
Was only on the pitch for just over 10 minutes, but looked neat and tidy. Surely deserves more game time than he has been getting of late.
