Full Time: Leicester City 1-6 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur condemned last season’s Premier League champions Leicester City to a humiliating 6-1 defeat at the King Power Stadium on Thursday night.
It was an open game for the get-go, but it was the visitors who broke the deadlock in the 25th minute as Harry Kane made no mistake from six yards out to put the ball into the net from a Heung-Min Son cutback. Son then went on to add one himself eleven minutes later to make it 2-0 for Tottenham. Leicester started to force the issue in the second period and the pressure paid off as Ben Chilwell made the most of a Hugo Lloris error to pull one back in the 59th minute.
However, Kane restored Spurs’ two-goal cushion with an easy close-range header just three minutes later. And the other scorer for Tottenham, Son, made it four with a lovely placed effort from outside the box in the 70th minute to put the game to bed. It was not over for Tottenham as Kane went on to complete his hat-trick late in the game, with a strong right-footed finish from the edge of the area, before making it 6-1 in the injury time to add insult to injury for the home team.
Here is how the Tottenham players fared on the night:
Tottenham Player Ratings
Hugo Lloris – 6/10
Forced into a couple of straightforward saves in the first period. Made a meal of a sliding challenge after rushing out of his box and Chilwell capitalized to score. Hardly tested after that.
Eric Dier – 7/10
One mistake to deal with the ball let Vardy through. Fairly solid apart from that, making a few good blocks.
Toby Alderweireld – 8/10
Was put under some pressure on one or two occasions by the pace and power of Jamie Vardy but came out unscathed. His long ball from the back, set the wheels in motion for the opener. Another delightful ball into the box from the right-flank in the lead up to the third goal. Distribution out from the back was top notch.
Jan Vertonghen – 8/10
Always on top of the Leicester attack. Made several important interventions and always pressed high up to squeeze the spaces for the Foxes.
Moussa Sissoko – 5/10
Things just don’t seem to be clicking for the Frenchman. Played as a right wing-back, did not show a great deal of adventure and played it safe on most occasions. Booked.
Victor Wanyama – 8/10
An interesting battle in the middle of the park with the young Wilfred Ndidi and the Kenyan international came out on top. Got forward well too and played a role in the third strike.
Mousa Dembele – 8/10
Kept driving Tottenham forward from the midfield as he has been doing all season long. Nothing spectacular, but went about his job quietly.
Ben Davies – 7/10
Offered a decent threat down the left-side, but did not get forward as much as he would have liked. Set Kane up for the sixth goal.
Dele Alli – 8/10
Always the willing runner, caused plenty of problems for the Leicester defence. Always wanting to get on the ball, lovely lobbed assist for Son’s goal.
Heung-Min Son – 9/10
Missed a glorious chance early in the game, but a brilliant run and cutback to set Kane for the opener. Sharp movement and scuffed finish to make to 2-0. Doubled his tally with a beautifully curled effort. Has scored 21 goals now this season across all competitions. Brilliant.
Harry Kane – 10/10
Huge threat with his movement. Opened the scoring from close-range with a great first-time finish. Made it three for Spurs with a comfortable header from point-blank range. Completed his fourth Premier League hat-trick of the season and added one more, to go on top of the Premier League goal-scoring charts with 26 goals to his name, two clear of Romelu Lukaku in the Golden Boot Award race. Absolutely incredible.
Substitutes
Vincent Janssen – NA
Replaced Son with less than fifteen minutes left. Had a goal ruled out for offside.
Filip Lesniak – NA
Came on for Dembele in the 86th minute.
Georges-Kevin N’Koudou – NA
Replaced Sissoko with less than a minute of normal time to be played.