Matthew Chadder

Sun 3 September 2023 16:53, UK

Tottenham bounced back from Carabao Cup disappointment in emphatic style by travelling to Turf Moor and putting five past Vincent Kompany’s Burnley side on Saturday (2 September).

After being eliminated from your first cup competition at your new job in August, there are few better ways to respond than by leading your side to a 5-2 victory away in the Premier League, which is precisely what Ange Postecoglou did.

Having gone 1-0 down in the opening few minutes of the contest, the Australian would have been fearing the worst as his side’s momentum looked set to truly derail just days before the international break. However, that early setback seemed nothing more than a hangover from the Fulham loss, and the players quickly drank some water, took a painkiller and took the match to Burnley.

It was Captain Tottenham to the rescue as Son-Heung-min and his fellow leaders in the changing room, James Maddison and Cristian Romero, all scored goals to turn the contest on its head and help maintain Spurs’ unbeaten start to the league campaign.

Here, Tottenham News has provided a player rating for each and every Spurs player who took to the field.

Guglielmo Vicario – 7/10

Despite conceding twice, Spurs’ Italian shot-stopper still prevented an overall total of 0.27 goals with the three saves that he did make (Sofascore). He didn’t have lots to do and would have been frustrated not to make it three clean sheets in a row, while his passing accuracy of 71 per cent also could have done with some improvement. Overall, however, not too many complaints to be made about Vicario’s performance.

Pedro Porro – 8/10

Was poor defensively for Burnley’s opening goal, as he was beaten too easily out wide, however, he more than made up for his mistake with a pass to set up Son’s third goal which Kevin De Bruyne would have been proud of. In addition to his assist, he created another big chance and made two tackles, two interceptions and two clearances. A strong display once again from the Spaniard who showed incredible mental strength to recover from his early mistake.

Cristian Romero – 8/10

Stepped up when it mattered most and scored a sublime goal to put his side in front on the stroke of half-time, which would have completely changed both manager’s team talks in the dressing room. The Argentine was his usual dominant self defensively, as he made two tackles, and won three of his four ground duels and all four of his aerial duels. He also completed 92 per cent of his passes and played five accurate long balls from the six he attempted. Simply irreplaceable.

Micky van de Ven – 7/10

Not his best display since arriving in the summer, but by no means a poor one. While he wasn’t as impressive defensively as Romero, making no tackles, he still won two ground duels and two aerial duels while completing 92 per cent of his passes and his one attempted dribble. He and Romero are quickly building a formidable partnership.

Destiny Udogie – 8/10

Arguably his best performance in the colours of Lilywhite to date. In addition to his assist, he was an immovable force on the left-hand side for Tottenham. The Italy Under-21 international made five tackles, won eight of his nine ground duels, made two interceptions and completed 93 per cent of his passes. Absolutely baffling that he has not been called up by his nation’s senior team for the international break.

Yves Bissouma – 7/10

He has had better days this season but still looked relatively comfortable throughout the 90 minutes. Bissouma is quickly becoming a player whom supporters expect to just play well, and he was his usual tidy self defensively, making four tackles and three interceptions in addition to completing 92 per cent of his passes. However, he did give the ball away 14 times, but nothing to suggest any alarm bells in his display.

Pape Matar Sarr – 6/10

Similar to Bissouma, not Sarr’s best performance this season, who saw himself hooked off just past the hour mark. He completed 83 per cent of his passes, with one of those being key, and missed one big chance. He made two tackles and two clearances and only lost the ball seven times. He will likely be the player dropped upon Rodrigo Bentancur’s return from injury.

James Maddison – 9/10

Simply sensational, fans will quickly be running out of superlatives to describe their new number 10. He was always looking to get on the ball and create and the goal that he scored from outside the box was just sublime.

As soon as the 26-year-old picked up the ball on the edge of the box with the amount of space that he was afforded, he never looked like missing. With each passing day, it is looking like more and more of a mystery of how they managed to land their star midfielder for the price that they did.

Dejan Kulusevski – 7/10

Perhaps the weak link in Spurs’ front three on the afternoon. It was by no means a poor performance, and he did complete 83 per cent of his passes and make three key ones in the progress, but at times he seemed sluggish and appeared to slow down some attacking moves. With the young and hungry Brennan Johnson now breathing down his neck, the Swede will need to improve quickly.

Manor Solomon – 8/10

A surprise addition to the starting line-up as he was handed his first Premier League start, the Israel international took his opportunity well. Although at times he made the wrong decision in the final third, he had two assists to his name by full-time and looked confident when one-on-one with his man. He completed 91 per cent of his passes, with five of those being key, and was successful with three of his five attempted dribbles.

Son Heung-min – 9/10

By far and away the Tottenham skipper’s best performance of the season. It is hard to see Richarlison reclaiming his space in the team after Son came in and scored a hattrick through the middle. All three of his goals were excellent finishes, which would have reminded his doubters of his unrivalled finishing ability. He scored all three of the shots on target he had, demonstrating that he is still to be feared after a slow start to the season.

Substitutes

Ivan Perisic – 5/10

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 5/10

Richarlison – 4/10

Emerson Royal – N/A

Ben Davies – N/A

In other Tottenham news, Paul Robinson believes Vicario is yet to face his “biggest test” at the club.