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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Malik Ouzia

Tottenham player ratings vs Arsenal: Emerson Royal the weak link as Harry Kane struggles with William Saliba

Tottenham were beaten at the Emirates in a disappointing afternoon

(Picture: Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)

Tottenham fell to a 3-1 defeat away at Arsenal in a hugely disappointing afternoon for Antonio Conte’s side.

Spurs, who have been able to pull off some major results under the Italian’s watch, imploded inside the Emirates Stadium, with Harry Kane’s penalty the only cause for celebration.

Here’s how Antonio Conte’s side rated at the Emirates...

Hugo Lloris 5

Made some crucial saves but dreadful distribution invited pressure and spilled Bukayo Saka shot for Gabriel Jesus goal.

Cristian Romero 6

Passivity of those in front of him was to blame for opener and unfortunate that Lloris’ parry gave him little time to react for second.

Eric Dier 5

Given a testing afternoon - and a kick in the head. Had to shuffle into his less preferred back-four role briefly after Emerson dismissal and was dragged out of position for Xhaka goal.

Clement Lenglet 6

A solid outing on the left of the back-three as plan to double up on Saka outside him saw main threat from that flank nullified.

Emerson Royal 3

Thankful for the help of Richarlison in dealing with Gabriel Martinelli but still clearly, the weak link and got away with being caught under high-cross as Jesus headed wide. Didn’t have such luck with naughty tackle on Martinelli.

Emerson Royal was sent off for a crazy tackle on Gabriel Martinelli (AFP via Getty Images)

Rodrigo Bentancur 7

Slow to get out to Partey but otherwise superb. Tenacious and reads the game so well.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg 6

Outshone by his partner and by Thomas Partey. Not overrun as explicitly as a year ago but still second best in midfield battle.

Ivan Perisic 7

A fine showing. Dropped into a back-five to largely keep tabs on Bukayo Saka but still managed to provide an attacking outlet, though it wasn’t always best utilised.

Richarlison 6

In a rich vein of form and worked so hard defensively to contain countryman Martinelli, while persistence forced penalty.

Harry Kane 6

Actually struggled against the physicality of William Saliba but deadly from the spot as usual. The first Premier League player to score 100 goals away from home.

Harry Kane’s penalty was not enough (AFP via Getty Images)

Heung-min Son 6

Another who curbed attacking instincts but was relatively well contained going the other way. Pace and directness still caused unease in defensive ranks in build-up to penalty.

Substitutes

Ryan Sessegnon (Richarlison 71’)

Brought on as part of a sweeping quadruple change after Xhaka third as Conte opted for damage limitation.

Matt Doherty (Son 72’)

See above.

Davinson Sanchez (Lenglet 71’)

See above.

Yves Bissouma (Perisic 71’)

See above.

Oliver Skipp (Højbjerg 75’)

See above, but a few minutes later.

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