Tottenham Hotspur were coming into this match off of a 4-2 loss against Barcelona and had a good opportunity to bounce back against a side tipped for relegation, Cardiff City.
Spurs were the more active team early on, resulting in an Eric Dier goal in the 8th minute after a corner.
Cardiff had a stint of domination in the second half, which almost resulted in a goal as Josh Murphy chipped Hugo Lloris, forcing a goal-line clearance out of Toby Alderweireld.
Tottenham were unable to further their lead, even after Joe Ralls received a red card for a brutal foul on winger Lucas Moura.
Spurs also had a penalty shout as Bruno Manga attempted to clear the ball in the box, but got Danny Rose 's legs instead.
Goalkeeper and Defenders
Hugo Lloris: 7/10
Lloris had to recover from his early mistake against Barcelona, and though he got chipped in the 22nd minute by Murphy, the French keeper kept a clean sheet and produced five saves, the biggest one on Morrison's header.
Danny Rose: 8/10
Not only did Rose draw a foul inside the box that should have been a penalty, he also led the team in tackles, getting four within the 90 minutes. The left-back was dangerous down his flank, and even nutmegged his opponents a few times.
Toby Alderweireld: 8/10
Alderweireld came up with a great clearance after Lloris got chipped, and overall performed very well. The only thing that could count against the Belgian is that he didn't attempt many cross-field passes to find Rose or Trippier, but that is more down to the tactics than the individual performance.
Davinson Sánchez: 7/10
A solid performance from Sánchez, managed to pick up an assist on the Dier goal after getting free on the corner. However, the Colombian is young and still has an Aurier-esque sense about him of an impending error. Sánchez got booked for a necessary tactical foul and covered the entire right half of the defense as Trippier tended to push up more.
Kieran Trippier: 8/10
Tripper was clearly the more attacking of the full-backs, whipping in crosses or trying to move the ball into Moura or Son. It was his short corner that caught Cardiff out for the Tottenham goal.
Ben Davies: 6/10
Davies came on right before injury time after Rose's injury, nothing notable from the Welsh defender in his six minutes on the pitch.
Midfielders
Moussa Sissoko: 6/10
Sissoko performed way better than expected, since the expectations are almost non-existent. He is not a technically-gifted player and it often seemed that his teammates tried to play despite him when attacking. He seemed better in the second half when Winks joined the attack and Sissoko stayed deeper.
Eric Dier: 8/10
It seemed an easy goal to score, but for Dier, a player who doesn't find himself in front of the goal with the ball at his feet, he kept his composure and got the ball in the back of the net. Other than the goal, Dier did his job and saw the game out.
Harry Winks: 7/10
Just like in the Barcelona match, Winks was almost invisible in the first half and came alive in the second. This time, it was a tactical change that enabled Winks to come forward more often, but Cardiff were successful in showing the young midfielder onto his left foot on his runs, which is why they weren't more successful.
Victor Wanyama: 6/10
Wanyama came on for Sissoko in the final minutes, a defensive move for Spurs.
Forwards
Harry Kane: 7/10
It was Kane dropping deep again, essentially playing behind Son and Moura, but on the occasions when he got into the box, Kane wreaked havoc. Kane should return to his position atop the formation because he is much more efficient when he finishes attacks, not starts them.
Lucas Moura: 7/10
Moura had the biggest chances of all the forwards, freeing himself for a header that he put over the bar, and having his shot blocked by Morrison on the goal line. Lucas didn't add to his tally, but it was another good performance from him.
Heung-Min Son: 7/10
Son was a bit quieter when it came to shots, but the Korean often took on defenders in one-on-one situations and got the ball into the box. One of these was a chance in the 41st minute when Son broke into the box with some stepovers, set up Moura, who unfortunately chose to play it with his right and missed the target.
Erik Lamela: 7/10
Lamela replaced the aforementioned Son in the 73rd minute, and despite coming on from the bench once again, the Argentine winger made an impact. His runs in the box drew more defenders than when Sissoko did it, and Lamela got a shot on target before the match was over.