Tottenham player ratings at Swansea: Eriksen and Lamela dominate

Christian Eriksen-9.5

Without Kane or Dele Alli in the starting XI Tottenham really needed a top performance from Eriksen. The Danish maestro came through in a big way with a nearly perfect match.

His opening goal with the left foot was a thing of beauty. Swansea’s defenders inexplicably backed away from him and Eriksen made them pay dearly. His second goal probably should have been saved, but that doesn’t take anything away from his overall play.

Eriksen’s interchange play with Erik Lamela kept Swansea off-balance the entire match. No one in the Swans’ midfield could lay a hand on either midfielder for long stretches. Eriksen came up big in a match where Pochettino really needed him.

Erik Lamela-9

This match was the Battle of Waterloo for Lamela haters. He played an exquisite match in the absence of Kane and Dele. Lamela thoroughly justified his manager’s faith in him with a massive performance.

As usual with Lamela, he was influential on both ends of the pitch. He scored a class goal with his right foot, but his defensive work was just as important. Don’t forget it was his physical challenge and subsequent winning of the ball that led to Eriksen’s first goal. Simply put, Lamela played well enough to shut his critics up for a while.

Lucas Moura-7

You can’t blame the Brazilian for being the weakest of Pochettino’s attacking midfield starters in this one. He wasn’t bad, but he definitely wasn’t equal to Lamela and Eriksen.

In the first half I actually thought he tried too hard to play unselfish football. Lucas is at his best when he’s in the mood to take on defenders. He did more of that in the second half which helped Tottenham see the match out comfortably.