Tottenham beat Arsenal 1-0 in the first North London Derby to be played outside of the UK and here are our first half player ratings from the pre-season friendly victory in Hong Kong.
The first half saw the Gunners start the game brighter only for Thomas Frank’s Spurs side to strike the woodwork three times. First Pedro Porro’s corner curled all the way through and hit the right-hand upright. Tottenham then hit the right-hand post again as Wilson Odobert’s slightly deflected low shot hit the woodwork. Somehow the subsequent corner then bounced against the left-hand post, before striking Richarlison and bouncing over.
Pape Matar Sarr then scored a wonderful goal just before the break to give Tottenham the lead after picking up the ball just over the halfway line before sending it back over David Raya and into the net.
It should have been 2-0 to Spurs after the hour mark after some great work by substitute Mathys Tel down the left only for Micky van de Ven to head the Frenchman’s cross wide from a good position. At the other end, Arsenal huffed and puffed but never game Guglielmo Vicario anything to do.
Here are our Spurs player ratings from the pre-season victory at the Kai Tak Stadium
Guglielmo Vicario
The Italian had very little to do other than marshal his defence and make one low comfortable save late on from a central effort. 6
Pedro Porro
A busy half with a corner that curled all the way through and struck the right-hand post before making a good tackle on Rice as the midfielder burst on to Romero’s header. Had the energy to play the full 90 minutes and looked good in Frank’s system without the need to bomb on. 8
Cristian Romero
Sent a header into the path of Rice for a dangerous moment for Arsenal. Looked in good form other than, including a cheeky nutmeg on the sliding Havertz in his own box. Only that header knocked him down a mark and he continued his good work until coming off on the hour mark. Led the line well against the local rivals. 8
Micky van de Ven
Resumed his partnership with Romero as if they hadn’t left each other after the Europa League final. Very little got past the flying Dutchman. He should have sent a header into the net though from Tel’s cross midway through the second half but made a good save soon after. Came off with 15 minutes to go, seeming to hold his back. 8
Djed Spence
A tough task on the left up against Saka but he handled it well on the whole and continued that after the England man went off as he completed a full 90 minutes. 8
Rodrigo Bentancur
Picked up a yellow card for bringing down Saka on the run but played a strong role in the engine room for a good 85 minutes. 7
Pape Matar Sarr
An energetic first half capped by a wonderful goal over Raya from just over the halfway line. Moved into the number 10 role for a while after Bergvall went off before coming off himself with five minutes to go. This could be a big season for the Senegal international under Frank. 8
Mohammed Kudus
Always a threat to Arsenal with his runs forward and had a couple of blocked shots on the edge of the box. Came off after the hour mark following a less effective start to that period. Still another promising performance on the whole. He’s going to be fun to watch for the most part. 7
Lucas Bergvall
Playing in the number 10 position, other than one sloppy pass, the young Swede was effective in most of what he did as he often made up another number in midfield. Suffered from cramp in the second half before coming off with 15 or so minutes to go. 6
Wilson Odobert
Struck the right-hand post with a slightly deflected shot. Drifted in and out of the game after that with some moments of threat but others when he ran into defenders. 6
Richarlison
Had a header blocked in front of goal after Porro’s corner hit the post and was unfortunate that the rebound after Kudus’ corner hit the other post bounced against him and over the crossbar. Worked hard for an hour and got another pre-season game under his belt. 6
Subs
Kevin Danso
Replaced Romero for the final half an hour and helped keep the clean sheet. 7
Mathys Tel
Some great work after coming on to find space and put in a cross that Van de Ven should have headed on target. Ran for everything in the central attacking role. 6
Brennan Johnson
Didn’t see much of the ball down the right in the final half hour. 5
Ben Davies
Replaced Van de Ven in the centre of defence and helped keep Arsenal out in the final 15 minutes. 6
Son Heung-min
Came on for the final 15 minutes, presumable with a start to come in his homeland on Sunday. Made one strong run down the left and almost got the ball to Tel for a late chance. 6
Yves Bissouma
Came on to give the midfield some energy. 6
James Maddison
His first minutes of pre-season late on after returning from that knee injury. N/A
Archie Gray
Made an important late clearance on the run into his own box. N/A
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