How did the Spurs team fare in their narrow Europa League victory?
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Tottenham Hotspur are through to the knockout stages of this season’s Europa League after a narrow 1-0 victory against Serbian champions Partizan Belgrade at White Hart Lane in a match that was briefly suspended due to three individual pitch invaders causing havoc in the first half.
This is how we rated Mauricio Pochettino’s men during their victory:
GK) Hugo Lloris 8 – Didn’t have a lot to do but, as is the hallmark of a great goalkeeper, still made a couple of wonderful saves on a quiet night.
RB) Kyle Naughton 6 – Solid defensively, but wasted numerous good positions going forwards with a poor final ball.
CB) Vlad Chiriches 7 – Has been out in the wilderness after a dreadful display in this competition against Besiktas, but was much more assured this evening.
CB) Jan Vertonghen 6 – Largely untroubled, but a couple of moments of fallibility showed that the Belgian still isn’t at his best.
LB) Ben Davies 6 – Much like Naughton on the other flank, should’ve made more of the crossing opportunities that he was afforded.
CM) Benjamin Stambouli 8 – Could be the holding midfielder that Spurs desperately need – topped off a good display with the only goal.
CM) Moussa Dembele 6 – A very quiet night from Dembele, who needs to have more impact on games if he is to live up to his potential.
ARM) Erik Lamela 5 – This was one of Lamela’s frustrating displays, with the Argentine giving the ball away and wasting good openings.
ACM) Paulinho 5 – Played in a slightly more advanced role but still struggled to offer anything, his time at the club is surely running out.
ALM) Aaron Lennon 6 – Given a chance to seize a place in the team by Pochettino and, whilst he wasn’t terrible, Lennon didn’t exactly grasp it with both hands.
SC) Roberto Soldado 7 – It’s hard not to feel for the Spaniard – he led the line intelligently, only to be denied a goal when his deft clip came off the post for Stambouli to tap in.
SUB) Nabil Bentaleb 7 – Is a tidy footballer, certainly looked far more effective than Paulinho after he came on.