Christian Eriksen’s 80th-minute strike proved to be the difference between the sides as Tottenham Hotspur beat Inter Milan 1-0 on Matchday 5 of the Champions League to keep their hopes alive.
Spurs started the game the brighter of the two teams and had more shots on goal but the Italians looked resilient and determined to get a point that would guarantee their qualification to the knockout stages.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men could have taken the lead but Harry Winks’ shot came back of the crossbar. Mauro Icardi found a few half-spaces to exploit but couldn’t take advantage of it.
It looked as if the game was heading for a draw and Pochettino’s masterstroke to bring on Eriksen made all the difference as the Danish maestro made no mistake in hitting the roof of the net, keeping Tottenham’s campaign in the Champions League just afloat.
Made several good saves to keep Spurs in the game, including a brilliant stop from Perisic’s effort at his near post in the second half.
Another decent performance by the Ivorian. He kept things tight at the back and did not allow Perisic to become too dangerous; contributed to the attack as well with powerful runs.
An authoritative display by the Belgian against a potent Inter attack on his return from injury. Missed a chance to find the net with a header from close range.
Looked a lot more comfortable tonight playing alongside Vertonghen. Received a yellow card when he was caught out by the pace of Icardi but did a good job to keep the Argentinian at bay for large quarters of the game.
Didn’t make too many mistakes at the back but was wasteful with his crossing in the other half and lacked his usual impact on the game.
Calm and composed display by the youngster in the midfield. Fairly good with his passing and unlucky to have his shot come back of the post.
Used his strength to his advantage to dominate proceedings in the midfield. Played a big part in Eriksen’s winner as he carried the ball with a lot of purpose and desire from a deeper area and found the perfect pass to Alli. Spurs can now start relying on his abilities.
Not his best performance in a Tottenham shirt. Struggled to get into the game at times and didn’t really find his feet. Had a powerful effort go wide in the first half but that was probably his best contribution; Lucky to stay on the pitch after a horrible two-footed challenge.
Didn’t match the standards that he had set against Chelsea but combined pretty well with Kane up front. Had a few chances to shoot but was a bit wayward with his shooting; showed a good touch and tremendous awareness to set up Eriksen for the goal.
Not bad but not too good either. The Brazilian put in the hard yards and showed some elegant touches; threatened at times but the end product wasn’t great.
Did not have the supply that he would have liked but still tried his level best to make things happen with some powerful surging runs.
Deserves full marks for getting that all-important goal in a pressure situation.
Booked. He tried to light up Wembley once again with his energy but didn’t quite have the time to do so.
Hardly saw the ball to make an impact.