Tottenham 1-0 Burnley: Player ratings as Spurs move into top four
By Sean Walsh
From Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - Spurs climbed into the top four with a nervy 1-0 win at home to Burnley on Sunday.
Antonio Conte's men were unable to replicate the scintillating display they put on against Arsenal on Thursday but clung on to leapfrog the Gunners in the Premier League table ahead of their trip to Newcastle on Monday.
Mike Jackson's Clarets will now be looking nervously over their shoulder with Leeds and Everton in action later on Sunday with relegation still a real possibility.
Tottenham dominated the opening stages but Burnley remained resolute. Son Heung-min nearly scored from close to the byline after a one-two with Ryan Sessegnon from a corner, but Nick Pope scrambled back across his line to parry it behind.
Lucas Moura then beat Charlie Taylor for pace and looped a cross towards Harry Kane, whose header was well held by his England colleague.
Kane had another towering header then turned behind by Nathan Collins, before Pope tipped over Emerson Royal's 35-yard strike.
Burnley enjoyed more sustained spells of possession midway through the first half, with Maxwel Cornet forcing Hugo Lloris into a low save.
Kane somehow didn't give Spurs the lead in stoppage time at the end of the opening 45 minutes, dragging Lucas' cut-back wide.
But Tottenham were awarded a penalty after an incredibly lengthy VAR review for handball against Ashley Barnes, and Kane made no mistake from the spot to give the hosts a late first-half lead.
Kevin Long and Collins both had headers from free-kicks go just off-target after the interval as Spurs began the second 45 with little composure.
At the other end, Kane fired over following a well-worked counter attack after Ryan Sessegnon drove down the left flank and slipped it to Son, teeing up the England captain only to mistime his shot.
From seemingly out of nowhere, Barnes rattled the post with a thunderous shot to waken the home fans.
Pope made his best save of the day by far to deny Son at the near post before Long turned a cross from the South Korean over the top from just inside his own six-yard box.
The Burnley keeper again stood strong to keep Son out with a flick of his left arm, but Spurs managed to kill the second half just as Burnley thought they had managed to do in the first to secure the three points.
Tottenham vs Burnley player ratings
1. Tottenham (3-4-3)
GK: Hugo Lloris - 6/10 - Little to do for the most part. Claimed a few crosses.
CB: Davinson Sanchez - 6/10 - Not quite as solid as he was on Thursday but played well nonetheless.
CB: Eric Dier - 6/10 - Similarly decent, no more and no less.
CB: Ben Davies - 6/10 - Got forward plenty but was scarcely used.
RM: Emerson Royal - 6/10 - Solid at the back but offered little going forward.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur - 7/10 - Retained possession well and wriggled out of some tight gaps. Fired a couple of pot-shots over.
CM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - 6/10 - A little more wasteful than his midfield partner but was generally a calming presence.
LM: Ryan Sessegnon - 7/10 - Really growing into his own in this position, another solid performance.
RF: Lucas Moura - 5/10 - Had the run on Taylor for the most part but didn't give Burnley enough problems.
CF: Harry Kane - 7/10 - Scored a crucial penalty but was otherwise fairly quiet by his own standards.
LF: Son Heung-min - 6/10 - Got into some great scoring positions but just couldn't find the net.
SUB: Dejan Kulusevski (78' for Lucas) - 5/10
SUB: Joe Rodon (90' for Emerson) - N/A
2. Burnley (5-3-2)
GK: Nick Pope - 7/10 - Made a few smart saves to keep Burnley in the game.
RB: Connor Roberts - 5/10 - Booked early on for a cynical foul on Sessegnon and struggled to contain him from there on in.
CB: Kevin Long - 5/10 - Limited in possession but defended fairly well for the most part.
CB: Nathan Collins - 8/10 - Led from the back excellently. A Premier League side will definitely snap him up if Burnley go down.
CB: Matt Lowton - 6/10 - Helped Taylor try and keep Lucas quiet. Subbed for more fire power.
LB: Charlie Taylor - 4/10 - Was lucky that Lucas seemingly didn't have the confidence to rip him to shreds.
CM: Dwight McNeil - 6/10 - Showed off his impressive work rate and range of passing.
CM: Josh Brownhill - 5/10 - Kept things ticking when Burnley had the ball.
CM: Jack Cork - 4/10 - A bit more of a disruptive presence, sometimes to his own team's detriment.
CF: Maxwel Cornet - 5/10 - Always looked threatening but rarely ever actually threatened Spurs.
CF: Ashley Barnes - 4/10 - Very isolated. Gave away a penalty.
SUB: Wout Weghorst (78' for Barnes) - 3/10
SUB: Aaron Lennon (78' for Lowton) - 3/10