The Tottenham midfielder played a vital role in his club’s first Champions League points of the season.
Tottenham’s Son Heung-min celebrates scoring their first goal with Erik Lamela
Tottenham Hotspur’s Erik Lamela may not have grab the headlines after the Londoners’ hugely important 1-0 win away to CSKA Moscow, but again the Argentine showed his importance for the Lilywhites with a crucial assist.
The winger certainly didn’t have his best game for Spurs away to CSKA, with the Argentine among a group of talented attacking Tottenham players who just failed to send the ball through at the right angle, or just failed to control the ball ideally, when in a number of promising positions.
Tottenham’s Erik Lamela in action with CSKA Moscow’s Pontus Wernbloom
Particularly in the first half, the 24-year-old was unable to make a difference in the final third, despite Spurs having plenty of possession. Even though CSKA were the home team, they looked hugely cautious against a Tottenham side that was missing five of its first team players.
In the second period, and particularly with the introduction of Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, things improved somewhat, and it was Lamela who received the ball between midfield and defence in the 71st minute and then played an inch perfect pass through to Son, who squeezed it past Igor Akinfeev.
Below are Lamela’s stats from the match:
| Goal Assist | Total Attempted Assists | Total Scoring Attempts | Duel Won | Successful Take Ons | Touches | Accurate Pass | Mins Played | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erik Lamela | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 80 | 50 | 90 |
The two stand out statistics for Lamela are of course the vital assist to the only goal in the game, but also the the Argentina international’s excellent dribbling numbers. With six successful take ons, no player dribbled past more players than Lamela in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
As can be expected now from the former Roma man, he was also combative, winning six duels for possession, while his 80 touches and 50 accurate passes, in an attacking midfield position, also demonstrate how involved he was in the game.
The match was lacking that final moment of class in and around either penalty area, but Lamela’s through ball to Son is very much the decisive moment in Tottenham’s Champions League campaign thus far.
CSKA Moscow’s Georgi Schennikov in action with Tottenham’s Erik Lamela
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