LONDON — Tottenham beat Manchester City 2-0 at White Hart Lane on Sunday to lay down a marker.
[ MORE: 3 things we learned ]
Spurs dominated large spells of the game as their high-pressing blew City away.
Mauricio Pochettino won the tactical battle against Pep Guardiola, but who shone on the pitch?
[ MORE: Spurs title push? ]
Here’s a mark out of 10 for each player who took part at WHL.
Tottenham
Hugo Lloris – 7 – Smart tops from Aguero in the second half and a cool head.
Kyle Walker – 7 – Hardly put a foot wrong in a solid back four.
Toby Alderweireld – 7 – See above. Ushered Aguero away from danger masterfully.
Jan Vertonghen – 7 – Again, see above. Vertonghen and Alderweireld are probably the best central defensive partnership in Europe right now.
Danny Rose – 7 – All-action display from Rose as he got forward and supported the attack.
Victor Wanyama – 7 – Superb display from the Kenyan destroyer who is fast becoming a fans favorite. Swept up in front of defense.
Erik Lamela – 6 – Wrestled with Son for the penalty kick, which he missed, and he gave the ball away on multiple occasions.
Christian Eriksen – 6 – Got a little lost in the pace and power of the game in a deeper role and his shooting from distance was off.
Moussa Sissoko – 7 – Powerful display on the right. Won a thunderous challenge in first half. Tireless effort.
Dele Alli – 8 – Took his goal well and won a penalty kick. Continues to mature and along with Son, makes Tottenham tick.
Heung-Min Son – 9 – Set up Alli’s goal wonderfully and was a constant thorn in Man City’s side. Quite clearly the man of the match.
Subs:
Eric Dier (on for Sissoko, 73′) – 6 – Steady enough in midfield to help Spurs see out the win
Georges Kevin Nkoudou (on for Alli, 86′) – 6 – Showed brief glimpses of pace and promise
Vincent Janssen (on for Son, 90′) – 6 – Worked hard late on, just failed to get on the end of a few chances.
Manchester City
Claudio Bravo – 5 – Saved a penalty kick from Lamela but again looked nervous with the ball at his feet.
Pablo Zabaleta – 6 – Solid enough from Zabaleta. What you see is what you get.
John Stones – 5 – Not a great afternoon for Stones. Son ran him ragged and Spurs gave him no space to play out from the back.
Nicolas Otamendi – 5 – Like Stones, struggled with Son. Lost Alli on his goal completely when caught ball watching.
Aleksandar Kolarov – 4 – Oh dear. Shanked into his own net early on and generally had a ‘mare. Bad week for him after display at Celtic.
Fernandinho – 5 – Looked better in a deeper role but gave a PK away.
Fernando – 4- Subbed out in second half. Added little to no protection for City’s defense.
David Silva – 5- Largely anonymous and lunged into some silly challenges.
Jesus Navas – 5 – Whipped in a good cross in the first half and showed flashes of pace but no end product.
Raheem Sterling – 5 – Like Navas, brief glimpses of pace and trickery but not enough.
Sergio Aguero – 6 – Lively in attack, had several efforts saved by Lloris. No service for most of the game.
Subs
Ilkay Gundogan (on for Fernando, 53′) – 6 – Helped City control midfield a little better
Kelechi Iheanacho (on for Navas, 65′) – 6 – Had one good chance but was denied by Lloris
Leroy Sane (on for Sterling, 87′) – 5 – Didn’t get much time to make an impact
