Tottenham Hotspur got a needed win in the Premier League over Sheffield United, as several players had outstanding performances, including Tanguy Ndombele.
Tottenham Hotspur had a big match on Sunday afternoon as they needed to work to keep pace with the other leaders in the Premier League. With a big match needed some of Tottenham’s stars came to shine as Harry Kane was superb and young Joe Rodon made an impact. However, no-one put a stamp on the afternoon quite the way Tanguy Ndombele did as Spurs won 1-3.
Tanguy Top Performer
Tottenham Hotspur came out in a new 3-4-3 formation, with a true back three and not a false back five. With four across the midfield, including two fullbacks Sergio Reguilón and Serge Aurier playing as the outside midfielders, there was a lot on the plate for Ndombele and fellow central midfielder Pierre-Emile Højbjerg.
Having spent most of the season essentially splitting duties as a number 10 with Harry Kane, Ndombele was terrific playing more of an eight today. Whereas Spurs midfield diamond has been getting overran over the last few weeks, the duo of Ndombele and Højbjerg were quite formidable in both directions.
Ndombele and Højbjerg had six combined tackles and worked to really help Spurs dominate possession on the front foot. Ndombele was like a magnet for the ball today and had one of his best passing games as a Spur. Ndombele will probably never have that 95% match of say a Harry Winks because he just tries so many audacious things with the ball.
Speaking of audacious his goal was a thing of beauty and everything about the play from his ability to let the ball do the work to his perfectly crafted shot was excellent. Of course, Tanguy was not the only great player on the day for Tottenham, so here are our ratings.
Tottenham Forward Ratings
Tottenham Hotspur played with three players in the front although for those three it did not seem all that different. Son and Bergwijn both bagged assists, while Kane got his 12th in the league.
Heung-Min Son (LW) – 7
Heung-Min Son got Spurs started early with a great corner that Serge Aurier met to score within the first five minutes. Son was able to get behind the defense once, but his shot hit the post as he was denied by the woodwork for a second straight week. Played hard throughout but has not been great and if the goals dry up, it will put an even bigger burden on Harry Kane. Getting Son right should be one of the foci for the next week.
Harry Kane (ST) – 8
Harry Kane was in terrific form on Sunday afternoon as he was all over the pitch creating offense and finishing the attack. For fantasy buffs, Kane stuffed the scoresheet with three successful tackles an interception and two clearances. Oh yeah, Harry scored Spurs second as well, doing a terrific job of finding space in a crowd and taking advantage of the opportunity. Probably should have scored a second late but can live with the 1.
Steven Bergwijn (RW) – 7.5
Steven Bergwijn will have an assist shown repeatedly for a while having played the combination and chip to Tanguy Ndombele for the Frenchman’s wonder-goal. Outside of that excellent pass, Bergwijn popped up a few times and got knocked down several. Stevie had a nice effort in the first five minutes to earn the corner that led to Aurier’s goal. Ran hard, played well defensively, and had some excellent touches on the day. Seems to be rounding back into form. Was slow to close out on the goal along with Ndombele but the pair made up for it shortly thereafter.
Tottenham Midfield Ratings
Tottenham’s midfield was a revelation on the day. Having been seemingly non-existent at times over the last several weeks as the ball bypassed the middle of the pitch; today Tottenham’s midfield dominated. Reguilón and Aurier were strong on the wings and the pairing of Ndombele and Højbjerg is as good as it gets.
Sergio Reguilón (LMF) – 7.5
Sergio Reguilón was again on the outside of the midfield. However, it was not to play as an extra fullback, it really was to play as an outside midfielder, which Sergio did rather well. Reguilón was instrumental in the first half driving the Tottenham attack, as he would look to dribble and push at every opportunity. Still played some defense with a handful of clearances, but really helped propel the offense from the outside.
Pierre Højbjerg (CM) – 7.5
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg had another solid outing for Spurs. Højbjerg was key in the second goal, helping to win the ball back and then playing the ball up to Kane for the assist. Almost as important as the assist was Højbjerg constantly imploring his teammates to push up the field and apply more pressure defensively. Pierre knows that the more you push out and pressure the less likely you are to get pinned in your own half. A leader on and off the ball.
Tanguy Ndombele (CM) – 8.5
Tanguy Ndombele was excellent overall on the afternoon. His goal was sublime as it was creative, daring, and precise all at once. Was guilty with Steven Bergwijn of not pushing up to pressure the cross on the Sheffield goal. Combined well with Bergwijn to help make up for that and then pushed on throughout the rest of the match to earn the full 90. Deserves the plaudits he is starting to get.
Serge Aurier (RMF) – 7.5
Serge Aurier scored early for Tottenham connecting with Son’s corner to head Spurs ahead in the opening stages of the match. Got up and down the flank, but never really pinged any crosses in. Did his up and down. One way to prevent a poor defensive play is not actually having Aurier playing defense, which worked this week.
Tottenham Defensive Ratings
Tottenham switched things up and played with a true back three, which made Spurs more offensive than less. With Joe Rodon making only his second Premier League start, the defense did well overall, although there was that moment again, which nearly cost Spurs more than goal, but the team held on.
Ben Davies (LB) – 7
Ben Davies was the left sided center half for Tottenham on the day. A position Davies knows well from his time with Wales internationally, Davies was solid. Had some real help and cover with Sergio Reguilón but rarely needed assistance. Was beaten to the spot by McGoldrick on the Blades goal but should have also had help inside. Extremely comfortable in the position and it showed.
Eric Dier (CB) – 6.5
Eric Dier was not terrible by any stretch, but he was not great either, Dier just was. Eric was on the ball more than Tottenham would probably like but his passing was okay on the day at 84%. His biggest contribution was probably the three blocks he had, including a big one on McGoldrick. Did get beaten on the goal but was not alone in that fact. Could really use the days off that are coming.
Joe Rodon (RB) – 7.5
Joe Rodon was terrific all things considered for Tottenham. Rodon was not perfect as he gave the ball away a couple of times, one of which nearly cost the team. However, Rodon seems to have some real pace to his game as his giant frame strides down the pitch. More importantly, Rodon seems willing to use that pace and runs hard for the shirt, which is not always happening across the pitch. Looks like a real player for Spurs this season and moving forward.
Hugo Lloris (GK) – 7
Hugo Lloris had four saves, but they were all routine and did give up the goal on the cross and header. Maybe could have done better but was probably the least at fault of any Spur on the play. Had good distribution most of the match, although a poor clearance at 33 minutes nearly cost Spurs, but the ball across the Tottenham six found no-one to finish it. Came off his line well to quell the attack.
Substitute and Coaching Rating
Tottenham Hotspur used all three substitutes in the match, although only one – Lucas Moura – had enough time to really make an impact on proceedings and even that time was short. The biggest things the substitutes did was help run down the clock.
Lucas Moura – 6.5
Probably not fair to give Moura a rating considering he only played four minutes plus injury time. However, Lucas Moura’s job was to come in and run hard and he did just that. Moura had more touches, 7, than he did minutes, 4. Completing four of five passes, Lucas was ready to play, he just got little chance.
Carlos Vinicius – N/A
Speaking of little chance that was the case with Carlos Vinicius who was seemingly coming in for Harry Kane and then at the last minute the old switcheroo went into effect and he came on for Son. Vinicius only had three touches and lost the ball, but he never had much of a chance.
Davinson Sanchez – N/A
Davinson Sanchez came on very last for Sergio Reguilón. It was so late it was hard to tell what happened with the defense at that point, but presumably he slotted in between Rodon and Dier, pushing the Englishman to the left center back position and Rodon to the right back. Considering Sanchez walked on and the whistle blew less than a minute later, he never had the chance to really show us where he was going to play.
Coach José Mourinho – 8.5
José Mourinho was not going to accept the status quo with his team given everything that has been transpiring and switched up the formation for Sunday against Sheffield. The change to a back three is often seen as defensive, particularly when you have two players who are normally fullbacks at outside midfield. However, Spurs were aggressive and forward thinking with the line-up and maybe the formation might get some more run. With Spurs still involved in four competitions and within two matches of the top of the league, Mourinho and company are quietly staying in the race.