Tottenham Hotspur had some outstanding performances on Wednesday as the team started fast and finished well to earn a shoot-out victory over Wolves. Here are our player ratings from the big Carabao Cup shoot-out win.
Tanguy Ndombele – Tottenham’s driving force
Before the game, we had talked about the need to have someone step up in the midfield for Tottenham Hotspur to create things and help control the match. On Wednesday at Wolves, Tottenham had two midfielders step up with both Oliver Skipp and Tanguy Ndombele playing very well.
However, it was the Frenchman who really helped drive Spurs across the 90 minutes.
Ndombele’s hustle and effort led directly to the first goal when he managed to plow through clearance and take the ball with him. Equally important to his goal was just how available Ndomebele made himself for his teammates in the game. No player on either team had more than the 86 touches Ndombele had on the ball.
Tanguy was not perfect, displaying a couple of passes and being beaten on the Wolves’ first header off a corner kick. However, overall Tanguy was excellent, finding the ball, moving the ball, and even finishing the ball. For all these areas of excellence, Tanguy was our player of the game.
Tottenham Defence Ratings
Tottenham started most of the defenders we thought we would see, although having Sanchez and Romero together was a bit of a surprise. The defense did well overall but Spurs still conceded two goals once again.
Japhet Tanganga – 6.5
After having been playing at center-half, Japhet Tanganga was back to the right-back position where he excelled earlier this season. Tanganga was not quite up to his best but he did play solid defensively. His two most memorable moments were probably the two shots he took and missed. Tanganga was behind the defense after a nice run and blasted wide. Then in the second half, the ball sort of fell to Tanganga at the top of the box but his shot was well over. A competition with Emerson Royal should now be open.
Cristian Romero – 7
It felt at times on Wednesday that it was Romero’s coming-out party for Spurs as a defender. The big Argentine was all over the pitch working to win the ball and harass the Wolves players. Very aggressive stepping up Romero had five interceptions and three tackles. Excellent at closing out on defenders with short space quickness, Romero looked the part of a big-money defender at Wolves.
Davinson Sanchez – 6
Whereas Romero had a strong game, if there was a weak link in the Tottenham defence on Wednesday it was Davinson Sanchez. The Columbian was the left-sided center-half for Spurs and did his best to impersonate Eric Dier with a team-high six clearances. Sanchez had a couple of errant passes and was beaten badly early in the second half and Spurs were lucky not to concede.
Ben Davies – 6.5
Ben Davies had a typical Davies day where he did nothing that really stood out. Davies did manage several crosses but his service really never met with anyone. Davies struggled with his passing on the day and definitely benefited from and needed the support that Bryan Gil often gave defensively.
Pierluigi Gollini had a mostly quiet evening until he did not. Gollini had a couple of routine saves and had little chance on either goal he conceded. Some additional defensive help would have been about the only thing that could have prevented the goals. Where Gollini stood out was in the shoot-out. The keeper got his hands on the first attempt but could not keep the ball out. However, Gollini was able to make a big save on Leander Dendoncker denying him his spot-kick. That denial along with two misses won the game for Spurs.
Tottenham Midfield Ratings
As we have already noted, Tanguy Ndombele really stepped up in this match as did Oliver Skipp. While Dele Alli was, well Dele.
Tanguy Ndombele – 7.5
Tanguy Ndombele did a bit of everything for Tottenham in the match, as he made darting runs, had three tackles and hit several teasing longer passes. Tanguy was not perfect, being beaten on the Wolves’ first goal off a corner and it was Ndombele losing the ball that led to the second Wolves goal. In a match with VAR, that goal may have been taken back as Ndombele was run over. When a player touches the ball in as many high-traffic places as Ndombele does, it becomes a high risk, high reward proposition and Spurs got some of both on Wednesday.
Oliver Skipp – 7.5
Oliver Skipp continues to grow as a midfielder right in front of our eyes. Skipp played a crucial part in the build-up of both goals, as the player who won possession back for Spurs in each instance. Besides his ball recovery, Skipp showed he is growing in his confidence on the ball as well. Once in the first half, Skipp had the ball at midfield and no one stepped to stop him, so instead of passing, Skipp dribbled right up the pitch. He ultimately did not complete his pass in the final third but seeing Skipp carry the ball like that into the final third is just another sign of progression for the young midfielder.
Dele Alli -7
Dele Alli had some moments in the match and played some wonderful passes. His one-touch through ball, between defenders perfectly to Harry Kane on Spurs’ second goal was a thing of beauty. Dele was unlucky not to get an assist in the second half, as he slid the ball across the face of the goal from the right and Bryan Gil made good contact as he slid in to tuck the ball away only for Roddy to reach out his arm and make a good block. Two plays will likely keep Dele up. The first was when he was played in by Gil but somehow was unable to get a shot off as he pinballed between defenders only a foot away from the goal. The second moment was when Dele was nutmegged, which is supposed to be his move.
Tottenham Forward Ratings
Tottenham got some good run out of their attackers on Wednesday, with two going the full 90-minutes. More creative than in previous matches there is some chemistry developing.
Bryan Gil – 7.5
Bryan Gil started on the left side of the attacking three but played across all three attacking positions on the evening. Additionally, Gil was a big contributor defensively as well, especially in the second half when Adama Traore was brought on and put on the Wolves’ right side. Unlucky not to score and a bit unlucky none of his crosses were converted either but showed he has something to bring, picking up fouls, winning the ball, and creating some service. Buried his spot-kick, which turned out to be the winning kick.
Harry Kane – 7.5
Harry Kane had a strong match after some in the media were questioning his resolve following the fiasco that was the summer. Kane ran hard and played his game against the Wolves, which mixing some of being a great #9 with being a great #10. Kane scored a breakaway and was unlucky not to score at least one more as he had a couple of shots on target denied, including a nice header from a Heung-Min Son cross late in the match. Kane went first in the shoot-out and buried his kick.
Giovani Lo Celso – 6.5
Giovani Lo Celso was much better against Wolves than he was against Chelsea. Able to move the ball a bit, Lo Celso led the team in passing, completing more than 91% of his attempts. Played a nice first-time ball back to Dele on Spurs’ second goal, with the hockey pre-assist. Lo Celso probably should have scored as he was in the box only a few feet away from goal but could not stay on his feet and the moment passed.
Substitute and Coaching Rating
Nuno Espirito Santo used three of his four available substitutes, with the last changes seemingly peculiar until we saw the result.
Heung-Min Son – 6
Heung-Min Son was the only substitute to play significant minutes, coming in for Giovani Lo Celso with just under 30 minutes to play. Son had one big almost moment with a great cross to Harry Kane, but the effort was saved. While Son did not see a ton of the ball after coming on, with only 17 touches, his presence changed the dynamic of the match and how the Wolves could defender Tottenham.
Pierre Hojbjerg – N/A
The big Dane came on with under 10 minutes to play in the match for Dele Alli. Hojbjerg helped organize the defence to avoid a late third goal. He did miss his spot-kick.
Sergio Reguilon – N/A
Sergio Reguilon was brought on at the death of the match to replace Japhet Tanganga in a seemingly strange move. However, when Reguilon went second in the shoot-out you could see why he had been subbed on as he went top shelf, side netting with an excellent kick.
Coach Nuno Espiriot Santo – 7
Santo set up the team to be successful from the off and that is in a couple of matches in a row Nuno has done that. Clearly learning a bit about what fans expect and demand of his team has been a good learning experience. Even better than setting up the team for success, Santo appeared to make some solid moves like training on Son to turn the tide or bringing on Reguilon to just take a penalty. Better all around, let’s hope it continues.