Here’s how we rated the Tottenham Hotspur players following the 2-1 defeat in this afternoon’s Premier League game against Newcastle United.
Ange Postecoglou’s side went in at half-time a goal down, with Harvey Barnes making the most of Newcastle’s first shot on target despite a wave of dominance by the away side.
Tottenham came out fighting in the second half, though, and were back on level terms within ten minutes thanks to a Dan Burn own goal. But, a failure to take their chances, and a moment of complacency in defence cost the Lilywhites again, as Alexander Isak converted to restore Newcastle’s lead.
Guglielmo Vicario: Struggled to command his box at set-pieces. Not a lot that could have been done for either goal, though. 6.
Pedro Porro: Question marks have to be asked about why Newcastle were able to get so much joy down his side, but no one can doubt his attacking involvements. Lots of shots, just not quite able to get them on target. 6.
Cristian Romero: A real leader’s performance from Romero today, who led the line from the back brilliantly, with intense pressing and full-blooded challenges. That is, until he and the rest of the back four switched off and let Newcastle in for the winner. 6.
Radu Dragusin: A fairly quiet first-half, but Dragusin put in an incredible challenge immediately after the break to stop Alexander Isak from a near-certain goal. Missed a good chance from a corner. Has to take some blame for the second Newcastle goal — that one is on the whole defence. 6.
Destiny Udogie: Was a little bit naive and careless in the first-half. Switched off in defence in the second half and allowed Murphy to get beyond him to provide the goal for Isak. 5.
Yves Bissouma: Grew into the game. Carried the ball forward nicely, but could have done more to protect the back four at times. 6.
Pape Matar Sarr: Had a decent first half but was sacrificed at the break to allow the system to change a bit, and probably due to his yellow card. 7.
James Maddison: Looks like he’s getting better with each game. Pulling strings, playing smart, simple passes. His shot led to the own-goal equaliser. When he dropped deeper, Maddison put in the miles to provide a great box-to-box display. 7.
Dejan Kulusevski: A hard-working performance from the Swede. Didn’t manage to get a break in the first-half as the central striker, but became more effective in the 10 role after the interval. 7.
Heung-Min Son: Tried to make things happen but just couldn’t seem to beat his man in the first-half. In the second, he moved into the number 9 role and appeared to be frozen out of the game. 5.
Wilson Odobert: A lively first-half performance, getting in lots of dangerous areas. Missed a sitter at the back post in the second half and then faded out of the game. Needs to improve his decision-making. 6.
Substitutes:
Brennan Johnson: On for Sarr at halftime. Forced the own goal to level the scores. Did really well in the high press, and created a number of chances. However, that final ball is still a bit of an issue, as is his finishing. 7.
Timo Werner: On for Odobert with just under 20 minutes to go. Made one key block at the edge of the box, but barely offered anything going forward. 5.
Lucas Bergvall: On for Maddison with ten minutes to go. Little time to do anything really, but didn’t exactly put a foot wrong. 6.
Rodrigo Bentancur: On for Bissouma with ten minutes to go. Did nothing but pick up a yellow card. 5.
The post Tottenham player ratings from the 2-1 defeat against Newcastle appeared first on The Spurs Web - Tottenham Hotspur Football News.
