Tottenham Hotspur Player Ratings from Win Over Royal Antwerp

Tottenham Hotspur were not great but did enough collectively scoring twice to beat Royal Antwerp and win Group J in the Europa League Thursday night.

Giovani Lo Celso was the clear star on the evening for Tottenham Hotspur, as they were clinical enough to beat Antwerp 2-0. An odd formation and line-up likely hampered things in the first half and dampened some of the performances. Some minor tweaks and substitutions got the engine going in the second half and Tottenham got the win. Here are our player ratings from the proceedings.

Starting XI Ratings

Joe Hart – 7

Joe Hart did not have a ton to do, but he did what he had too. He had the 5th most passes on the team, although most were long balls. Did well to cut out the only cross of note from Antwerp and stayed calm throughout with the ball at his feet. Did not get the kind of save he might have wanted after the calamity of last week, but a clean sheet is something that gives a keeper confidence no matter how it comes.

Sergio Reguilón – 6

Sergio Reguilón started at left back or left wing or left midfield, it was difficult to tell. Reguilón seemed far more interested in attacking than defending, but really did not get far enough away from Ben Davies on offense or defense to impact play. Was clearly annoyed he did not get the call for what he perceived to be a foul and may have injured himself pounding his feet and fists into the turf. Lucky not to get a yellow for a poor foul on the touchline. Has seen better evenings, hopefully this was just an off night from a poor formation rather than a sign that his head may have been turned by the call of Real Madrid.

Ben Davies – 7

Ben Davies had a lot of touches on the ball, but most were short passes forward and backward. Davies did not really get forward as he was pushed deeper by Sergio Reguilón in the first half and then Steven Bergwijn in the second. Almost beaten by a nice passing move in the first half, but Antwerp were flagged offside. A relatively anonymous evening, but sometimes that is a good thing for a defender.

Davinson Sanchez – 8

Davinson Sanchez needed an evening like Thursday where he was the dominant force in the back of the park, winning and blocking most anything near him. Sanchez was strong in the air and maybe even should have scored after connecting well on a long Heung-Min Son free kick. Sanchez was active forward and backwards in defense. Davinson was often the first to step to the ball and keep Antwerp pinned back and was also the last line of defense escorting the ball back to Joe Hart on several occasions. Got a bit sloppy late with a cheap foul and card, but strong overall.

Japhet Tanganga – 7.5

Japhet spent most of the evening playing right back, regardless of what the formation really was. Although Tanganga stepped up some to win the ball near midfield, that job mostly belonged to Sanchez. Japhet was strong defensively when needed and did one of everything with an interception, a clearance, a tackle, and a foul. Did take a tumble in the first half and seemed to have taken stinger to his shoulder. Hopefully, that is an isolated incident rather than something potentially recurring from his prior back injury. Tanganga plays a physical brand of football and you would hate for that to be compromised.

Matt Doherty – 7

Matt Doherty had an okay evening, but never did get forward as much as it seemed like he should have. The few times he did venture forward he had a couple teasing crosses and some nice interchange with Lo Celso. However, was mostly anonymous as he was neither a right back nor an outside midfielder, just sort of drifted from 18 to 18 without going any further either way.

Harry Winks – 7

Harry Winks was okay on the night, but never seemed to find his place and rhythm in the set-up. Winks did not find the ball nearly as much as he did in his last outing a few weeks back against LASK. Was solid defensively with a couple interceptions and a clearance, just could not convert the opportunities he had into something more. Was subbed off with Vinicius and Bale and went to the locker to shower per the coach’s orders.

Giovani Lo Celso – 9

Giovani Lo Celso started his third straight match for Tottenham and seems to be getting better with each game. Ran as hard in the last 10 minutes as he did in the first in completing only his second full 90 minutes this season and first since the first game of Europa League qualifying. Lo Celso was outstanding all night long, making incisive passes, which Spurs were unlucky not to score on; and adding in the mazy dribbling runs. Certainly, was the “Gio that we love” as José Mourinho said.

Lucas Moura – 7.5

Lucas Moura was probably the most active player for Tottenham outside of Lo Celso. Moura did a nice job finding the ball in tight places and then turning to spur the attack. Drew the foul that led to the first goal on a play remarkably like the one that got Seck yellow carded in the first half, again fouling Lucas. Looked to have maybe taken a knock later in the evening and was replaced by Moussa Sissoko as Spurs looked to tighten their grip.

Gareth Bale – 6.5

Gareth Bale had a relatively quiet evening for Tottenham. He did manage to get to the end line once, but his cross was well defended. Bale won a header off a corner, but it just went wide. Gareth did strike a sweet 33-yard free kick that Vinicius scored off the rebound. He will likely never be the vintage Bale stuck in many of our memories, but a few balls start bouncing differently for him and Tottenham, and Bale can again be a difference maker.

Carlos Vinicius – 8

Carlos Vinicius did a lot for the team to work with during his almost 1 hour on the pitch – before scoring a goal with his last touch of the match. Vinicius was the target man for several balls, particularly from Joe Hart and does well to flick the ball on or bring it down on his chest. Reacted well to score the goal. It is the offensive off the ball awareness Vinicius needs to work on, in terms of when to drop some and when to make runs off the ball. As a natural target needs to learn to play the second striker role some.