Tottenham were held to a draw in a 0-0 stalemate at the Stadium of Lights by an organised Sunderland side. Tottenham kept pushing for a late winner but it never arrived as Sunderland defended with numerous men in the box. David Moyes will be happy to see his plan executed to perfection while Tottenham fans will see this as a big opportunity missed to close the gap between them and Chelsea.
Below are Tottenham’s individual player ratings.
Michel Vorm
Rating: 7.5
Vorm didn’t really have much to do between the sticks but did a good job the few times he was called upon.
Kyle Walker
Rating: 8
Walker made some good marauding runs forward but to no avail. He also kept a tight defensive lead on Sunderland.
Eric Dier
Rating: 7.5
Dier played well at the back along with Alderweireld and made some decent tackles to help Tottenham fend against Defoe’s improvised runs.
Toby Alderweireld
Rating: 8
The Belgian did struggle initially against Defoe but grew into the game really well as Sunderland attacks were few and far between in the latter stages of the game.
Danny Rose
Rating: 8
Danny Rose was forced off with an injury in the 38th minute but had a decent game up until that as he made a few good runs down the left for Spurs.
Victor Wanyama
Rating: 8
Victor Wanyama did a good job defensively. His offensive exploits didn’t bear fruits despite hitting the target well from distance. He also missed a really good opportunity at the far post from a Christian Eriksen corner as he headed just over the cross-bar.
Mousa Dembele
Rating: 8.5
Dembele had an excellent game as he made some mesmerising runs dribbling past Sunderland midfielders in the process. He also helped Tottenham hold the ball under pressure and helped them to build from the back.
Christian Eriksen
Rating: 7.5
Christian Eriksen created a lot of chances but Sunderland always managed to kill the move in the final third by putting numerous men in the box.
Dele Alli
Rating: 6.5
Alli was quite underwhelming as he often went missing in the game. He also lost the ball on a few occasions which took the air out of the momentum.
Heung-Min Son
Rating: 7.5
Son tried quite hard but often lost the ball trying to dribble past Sunderland defenders. With Sunderland’s tight defending, he couldn’t quite pick his moment to shoot despite getting into the box on numerous occasions.
Harry Kane
Rating: 7.5
Kane was often crowded out by the Sunderland defenders and often lacked that final incisive pass from the other midfielders to latch on to.
Substitutes
Ben Davies
Rating: 7.5
Davies came on for injured Rose in the first half and adequately replaced him, with some good runs and crosses.
Mousa Sissoko
Rating: 7
Sissoko was unable to get past Sunderland defenders through the right channel, losing his footing on two different occasions.
Vincent Janssen
Rating: N/A
Janssen played too little to warrant a rating.
