Tottenham Hotspur struggle against Chelsea.placeholder image
Tottenham Hotspur struggle against Chelsea. | Getty Images
Thomas Frank heard boos ring out around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday evening.
Tottenham Hotspur are still without a home win since the opening day of the Premier League season with north London rivals Chelsea cruising to a 1-0 win on Saturday evening.
Thomas Frank’s side were outclassed by an organised Enzo Maresca outfit. Joao Pedro ended his goal drought following some sloppy Spurs defending, and could have had a hat-trick if not for some top tier saves by Guglielmo Vicario.
There were boos at half-time and full-time as the Spurs players left the pitch - here’s how the Tottenham Hotspur stars rated.
Tottenham Hotspur Player Ratings
GK: Guglielmo Vicario, 7
Was made to work a couple of times by Pedro in the first half, producing some good saves. Had little chance with the Chelsea goal after mistakes from the defenders in front of him. Some really dogged distribution at the end left Spurs with little chance of salvaging something.
LB: Djed Spence, 5
Didn’t look very comfortable this evening. A deer in the headlights at times with Pedro Neto taking every chance he could to run at the full-back.
CB: Micky Van de Ven, 6
Looked at fault for the Joao Pedro goal but was sold a terrible pass by Xavi Simons. Looked more convincing alongside Cristian Romero after he came on.
CB: Kevin Danso, 4
Shown up by Joao Pedro today. There’s been a lot of talk about the Chelsea striker’s lack of potency but his pace and strength regularly had Danso scrambling at the back for Spurs.
RB: Pedro Porro, 2
That was a tough watch. Not at the races at all with some poor choices when the ball was at his feet. Did play with character, looking to get the Spurs crowd going at times in the second half, but lacked quality today with set plays often overhit too.
Spurs lack character in midfield
CM: Pape Sarr, 5
Somewhat of a passenger. Struggled to find any real influence on the game.
CM: Joao Palhinha, 5
A similar showing to colleague Sarr in the centre of the park. Completely outclassed by a Chelsea midfield that was a level above.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur, 4
That was a nasty tackle on Reece James with the midfielder perhaps lucky to only be shown a yellow card. That moment did wake Spurs up momentarily but going down to 10 men would have killed off any chances of a comeback before half time.
LW: Lucas Bergvall, N/A
The fixture had barely started when Bergvall was forced off the pitch following a knock to the head. Was not happy about being taken off but had the decision taken out of his control.
ST: Randal Kolo Muani, 5
Had little to feed off today, so can’t have too much blame put on his shoulders. There was a decent half chance just before the break but a sloppy touch saw it vanish. Moved out wide when Richarlison came on.
RW: Mohammed Kudus, 7
Probably the neatest Tottenham Hotspur player with the ball at his feet but kept quiet by Marc Cucurella. Tried to do too much on his own sometimes, but there weren’t many inspiring options for him to work off.
SUB: Xavi Simons, 4
Thrown in early on and looked caught off guard by that. Did perhaps offer some more width that Bergvall but another player who was far too sloppy tonight. Subbed back off again after 73 minutes.
SUBS: Rodrigo Bentancur, Richarlison, Wilson Odobert, Destiny Udogie, Brennan Johnson.
In other news, Chelsea Player Ratings: 'Big character' 9/10 and 'sublime' 8 as Tottenham beaten.
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