Goals
1-0: Vertonghen (3 – picked up Vergini’s awful clearance and saw his shot deflect in off O’Shea)
1-1: Larsson (31 – curled in a superb free-kick from 25 yards after Vertonghen fouled Defoe)
2-1: Eriksen (88 – hit a low shot in off the post from Townsend’s ball across the 18 yard line)
Bookings: Vertonghen (foul, 30), Rodwell (foul, 58), Jones (foul, 87).
Referee: Chris Foy (St Helens): Infuriated the home crowd and followed his assistant’s advice to wrongly rule out Vertonghen’s late goal. 3
Attendance: 35,973
Rating: ***
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-2-3-1): Lloris 7; Walker 6, Dier 7, Vertonghen 8, Rose 8; Dembele 7 (Townsend, 75), Stambouli 6; Chadli 8 (Paulinho, 88), Kane 8, ERIKSEN 8; Soldado 5 (Adebayor, 62, 5). Subs (not used): Vorm, Naughton, Davies, Capoue.
SUNDERLAND (3-5-2)
7 PANTILIMON: Made a string of good saves to keep his side in with a chance at White Hart Lane;
6 Vergini: Really struggled in the first half and at fault for Spurs’ first, but he recovered well in the second
7 O’Shea: Commanded his three-man backline relatively well, and made sure Soldado and Kane weren’t afforded too much space
7 Brown: Made an excellent block to deny Kane in an otherwise solid display;
6 Jones: Put in a great cross that Fletcher failed to convert, but struggled to deal with Rose at times
6 Johnson: Forced a great save from Lloris in the second half, but his contribution was minimal
7 Larsson: Another impressive display capped with a superb curling free-kick before half time
6 Rodwell: Steady away, but perhaps allowed Spurs too much space in and around the penalty box
6 Van Aanholt: Didn’t get forward as much as he should have as a wing-back, but defended pretty well;
5 Fletcher: Missed a sitter from three yards in the first half and needs to work on his link-up play with a second striker
6 Defoe: Looked dangerous early on, but a lack of games showed and he faded in the second half
Subs
Wickham (for Fletcher, 65): Worked hard but didn’t come close to scoring. 5
Graham (for Defoe, 75)
Buckley (for Jones, 90)
Not used: Mannone, Coates, Gomez, Giaccherini.
MAN OF THE MATCH
CHRISTIAN Eriksen – a goal and an assist capped off an impressive display from the Dane
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