Tottenham Hotspur played hosts to Rochdale at the Wembley Stadium in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Wednesday night looking to secure progression into the quarterfinals of the competition. Mauricio Pochettino opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation and made some changes for this clash but it worked wonders as Spurs got off to a great start when Heung-Min Son scored the opening goal of the game in the 23rd minute. However, the visitors levelled the contest just eight minutes when Stephen Humphrys broke away and tapped home the equaliser. Both teams went into half-time with nothing to split them.
The second half was a totally different story as Spurs took initiative from the get-go and secured a thumping 6-1 win courtesy of a hattrick by Fernando Llorente, a brace by Heung-Min Son and an injury time goal from Kyle Walker-Peters.
Let’s shed some light on how each Spurs player fared on the night.
GK: Michel Vorm – 6/10
He hardly had anything to do in the game other than distributing the ball accurately. He was left helpless for the Rochdale goal when Stephen Humphrys made a clever first touch and finished with ease and grace.
RB: Kieran Trippier – 7/10
He earned a penalty in the first half and put in a few good crosses during the course of the game. He was always a threat going forward and coped well defensively when facing his goal.
CB: Juan Foyth – 6/10
He did well at the heart of the Tottenham Hotspur defence but was caught out on a few occasions in the first half.
CB: Eric Dier – 6/10
He was indecisive at times and should have taken more responsibility being the experienced defender in the Tottenham backline.
LB: Danny Rose – 6/10
He made a few good runs going forward but his impact faded as the game went on.
CM: Moussa Sissoko – 7/10
He was solid in midfield and battled hard to stop some of the Rochdale attacks.
CM: Harry Winks – 6/10
He struggled to cope with the intensity of the game and was rightfully subbed in the second half.
RM: Lucas Moura – 8/10
He was superb on the night and created lots of opportunities for his teammates to feed on.
CAM: Erik Lamela – 9/10
He was unlucky not to score on the night but was brilliant all throughout the game.
LM: Heung-Min Son – 9/10
He found the back of the net twice but could have scored a lot more with the number of chances that fell his way during the course of the match.
ST: Fernando Llorente – 10/10
The Spaniard scored a second-half hattrick within 12 minutes to singlehandedly turn the fate of the contest in favour of the home side. He was superb for Spurs, especially in the second half.
Substitutes:
CM: Mousa Dembele – 6/10
He came on in place of Winks and retained possession well to help Spurs secure qualification into the next round.
CAM: Dele Alli – 7/10
He had an instant impact after coming off the bench and played a brilliant pass for Tottenham’s sixth goal in injury-time.
RM: Kyle Walker-Peters – 8/10
He came on to score a goal in injury-time which put the icing on the Spurs cake.
