Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Manchester City: Player Ratings as Son, Lo Celso goals send Spurs top | Premier League 2020-21
Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester City 2-0 at home to go top of the Premier League. Son Heung-min opened the scoring for Spurs early in the game, while Giovanni Lo Celso scored with his first touch after coming on as a second-half substitute.
Son was played in behind the Manchester City defence by an excellent through ball from Tanguy Ndombele, and the South Korean easily slotted past Ederson.
Manchester City were the more dominant side for the rest of the first half, though, and they had the ball in the back of the net. Aymeric Laporte's superb finish was ruled out after Mike Dean, in consultation with the VAR official, ruled that Gabriel Jesus had handled the ball in the build-up.
Midway through the second half, Lo Celso was played through on goal by an excellent Harry Kane pass, and the Argentine made no mistake to seal the points for Spurs.
Here's how each player fared for both teams in this game.
Tottenham Hotspur Player Ratings
Hugo Lloris - 6/10
Lloris had only one save to make, which was off a Ruben Dias header right at the death. He made that save very competently.
Serge Aurier - 6/10
Aurier had a big task on his hands in keeping the in-form Ferran Torres quiet. The Ivorian came out of that individual battle on top, although he couldn't really influence the game going forward.
Toby Alderweireld - 8/10
Alderweireld had an excellent game for Tottenham. He was strong in the air, and also made several critical blocks and tackles. He went off late in the second half with what looked like a groin injury, which will be a big blow for Spurs.
Eric Dier - 8/10
If Alderweireld didn't get you, then Dier did. It was an immaculate performance from the Spurs centre-backs, who gave no space for the City attackers to work with.
Sergio Reguilon - 5/10
Out of all the Spurs players, Reguilon was the one who had a slightly below-par outing. He made a few mistakes - being caught out in possession in dangerous areas - for which Spurs could have been punished on another day.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - 9/10
It was another monumental performance from Hojbjerg in a Tottenham shirt. He cleaned up everything in front of the back four. He shut down space, didn't allow the Manchester City midfielders time on the ball, and had an excellent game overall.
Moussa Sissoko - 6/10
Sissoko provided Spurs the energy that he always does from midfield. He also helped out Aurier in defending against Torres and Cancelo, ensuring that Spurs weren't overloaded on the flank.
Tanguy Ndombele - 7/10
Ndombele got himself an assist, with the perfect weight on the aerial pass through to Son for the first goal. He had a great influence in the early exchanges, post which Spurs didn't really have much possession.
Steven Bergwijn - 6/10
A surprise starter, Bergwijn had decent game for Spurs. He kept the width on the left flank, and linked up well with Kane. He had a great chance to score in the first half, but was denied by a great last-ditch tackle from Rodri.
Son Heung-min - 7/10
With a calm finish past Ederson giving him his ninth goal of the season, Son once against went back to the top of the Premier League goal-scoring charts.
Harry Kane - 8/10
He played a massive role in both Spurs goals. For the first, he vacated the space for Son to run into, before playing a nice through-ball for Lo Celso to score from.
Spurs Substitutes
Giovanni Lo Celso - 7/10
Lo Celso scored 35 seconds after Jose Mourinho brought him on to the pitch, and made exactly the kind of impact that was needed.
Lucas Moura - 5/10
By the time Moura came on, Spurs were comfortable with dropping deep and defending, which meant that he didn't really get much of the ball.
Joe Rodon - 6/10
He came on for the last ten minutes of the game, replacing Alderweireld.