View: Cristian Romero leads by example with rock-solid display in Tottenham 2-1 win v Liverpool
Cristian Romero continued his fine start to the new season as he produced a centre-back masterclass as Tottenham won against Liverpool at the weekend.
The North London outfit defeated the Merseyside club 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday (30 September).
Son Heung-min opened the scoring, with Cody Gakpo responding for the visitors, who had both Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota sent off.
The hosts then sealed a massive three points through a Joel Matip own goal in stoppage time at the end of the game, with his fellow centre-back Romero impressing as he played the entire match.
According to Wyscout, the Argentine completed 97 per cent of his passes (87/90) during his 106 minutes on the pitch, with one of those being a key pass.
The defender impressively registered a 100 per cent rate in terms of back passes (5/5), lateral passes (41/41), long passes (2/2) and passes to the final third (5/5).
The centre-back also completed his only dribble attempt, as well as winning six of his seven defensive duels and winning both of his attempted slide tackles.
Moreover, Romero made five interceptions and two clearances, in what was a very busy afternoon against a determined Liverpool attack.
The 25-year-old did end up with a yellow card, as did his defensive teammates Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie, such was the pressure the home side was put under.
But Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou won’t care too much for those cautions, with his defenders ultimately coming out on top to produce a crucial win in front of a boisterous home support.
Romero has been crucial for the club this season, with the central defender featuring in all seven of his side’s Premier League matches so far.
There was, however, a scare very early on, with the Argentina international substituted in the opening day draw with Brentford after just 14 minutes due to injury, having scored just moments before.
But that issue was quickly dealt with, with Romero playing every Premier League minute since then, even adding to his goals tally with a strike in the 5-2 win against Burnley earlier in September.
The defender knew a busy 90-plus minutes was in store against Jurgen Klopp’s high-flying Liverpool, with the likes of Mohammed Salah, Luis Diaz, Gakpo and Jota all keen to get on the scoresheet.
His task was made much easier with the dismissals of both Jones and Jota, but as the Merseyside outfit have proven more than once already this season, they are still very dangerous without 11 players.
But Romero was up to the challenge, with the Argentine inspiring his young defensive teammates to a fantastic display at the back. He is only 25 but is still older than central defensive partner Micky van de Ven and full-backs Porro and Udogie.
The shift from the former Atalanta man allowed attackers Son, Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison to get forward as much as possible, with Liverpool’s stern defence finally broken down for a second time in the 96th minute.
In other Tottenham news, one player still has plenty to learn after a mixed performance in the 2-1 win against Liverpool.