Tottenham player ratings vs West Ham: Standout Spurs star distracts from shoddy team-mate | Football | Sport
Tottenham punished West Ham‘s second-half collapse with a 4-1 win on home turf to temporarily go sixth in the Premier League table.
The Hammers hit the front through Mohammed Kudus but the brilliant Dejan Kulusevski levelled before the break. And Spurs upped the ante from there on, with strikes from Yves Bissouma and Son Heung-min compounding West Ham’s misery after an Alphonse Areola own goal. Kudus was shown a straight red card late on for good measure.
Kulusevski’s standout display means a comparatively shoddy performance from Pedro Porro will quickly be forgotten. Manager Ange Postecoglou will not let that affect his mood given that three more points are in the bag, and here, Express Sport brings you our Tottenham player ratings in full…
Guglielmo Vicario: 7
The keeper’s big moment came just after 10 minutes, and his reflexes were razor sharp to palm away Kudus’ powerful effort.
Pedro Porro: 5
Porro steadied the ship in the second half and was always hungry to have a pop at goal, but by that point his poor touch had already started an early West Ham counter-attack, a bad pass saw a Spurs move fall apart, and he lost Kudus at the back post for the Hammers’ only goal. One to forget for the Spaniard, and a performance which, thankfully for him, will be swept under the carpet.
Cristian Romero: 7
A tough assignment against Michail Antonio but Van de Ven did most of the dirty work. Romero did make one eye-catching tackle just before the break.
Micky van de Ven (booked): 7
Nicked the ball off Antonio and powered forward to create a decent first-half chance for Spurs. Then used his pace in the opposite direction to stifle the West Ham forward, who had him beaten for power but not for speed.
Destiny Udogie: 7 (Gray, 87)
The Italian was run ragged by Jarrod Bowen in the early stages and he should have done better to defend the West Ham wide man for Kudus’ opener. Udogie rescued his performance from then on, however, and his smart play laid Bissouma’s goal on a plate.
Dejan Kulusevski: 9
Kulusevski set the tone from the very first minute, drifting past opponents effortlessly while enjoying the freedom to venture forwards and drop deep in his flexible imdfield role. His goal from outside the box hit the goalkeeper and both posts, and he played a significant role in Alphone Areola’s own goal. A top performance.
Yves Bissouma: 7 (Bentancur, 81)
A solid showing all round from the Mali international and his goal was taken well.
James Maddison: 6 (Sarr, 45)
Started poorly, along with many of his team-mates. Maddison lost possession multiple times early on with bad passes and loose touches, then fired a corner straight into Areola’s hands. The attacking midfielder only salvaged his display by playing the ball which preceded Kulusevski’s equaliser, but he was still brought off at the break and had a face like thunder on the bench.
Brennan Johnson: 6
A bit of a nothing display from the Welsh international. Most of the action went down Son’s flank and the big chance that did fall to Johnson was headed wide from close range, as he failed to score for a seventh consecutive game.
Dominic Solanke: 5 (Richarlison, 81)
His energy was impressive, as always, but the former Bournemouth striker didn’t offer much on a day when West Ham’s porous defence was there to be got at.
Son Heung-min: 7 (Werner, 70)
A few wayward moments early on were forgotten in the second half, when he played a big part in Areola’s own goal and then tore Jean-Clair Todibo to shreds before netting himself.
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Pape Sarr: 7
Only one half to affect the game but played a nice pass to set up Son for Tottenham‘s fourth of the afternoon.
Timo Werner: 6
West Ham were dead and buried by the time he came on and the German was unable to stamp his authority on the tie.
Richarlison: N/A
Rodrigo Bentancur: N/A
Archie Gray: N/A
