Tottenham first half player ratings vs Arsenal - Pape Matar Sarr wonder goal with Kudus a threat

Tottenham took on Arsenal in the first North London Derby outside of the UK and here are our first half player ratings from the pre-season friendly in Hong Kong.

Thomas Frank named a strong team only missing Dominic Solanke, who had a minor ankle injury, and Son Heung-min, who was on the bench perhaps with Sunday's match against Newcastle in his homeland South Korea in mind. Rodrigo Bentancur, who was ill at the weekend, was back in the team.

The first half saw Arsenal start brighter only for Tottenham to hit the woodwork three times. First Pedro Porro's corner curled all the way through and hit the right-hand upright. Spurs then hit the right-hand post again as Wilson Odobert's ever so slightly deflected low shot struck the woodwork. Somehow the subsequent corner then bounced against the left-hand post, before striking Richarlison and bouncing over.

Pape Matar Sarr then scored a wonderful goal just before the break to give Tottenham the lead after picking up the ball just over the halfway line before sending it back over David Raya and into the net.

Here are our Spurs player ratings from the first half in the Kai Tak Stadium

Guglielmo Vicario

The Italian had very little to do other than marshal his defence. 6

Pedro Porro

A busy half with a corner that curled all the way through and struck the right-hand post before making a good tackle on Rice as the midfielder burst on to Romero's header. 8

Cristian Romero

Sent a header into the path of Rice for a dangerous moment for Arsenal. Looked in good form other than, including a cheeky nutmeg on the sliding Havertz in his own box. Only that header knocked him down a mark 7

Micky van de Ven

Resumed his partnership with Romero as if they hadn't left each other after the Europa League final. Very little got past the flying Dutchman. 8

Djed Spence

A tough task on the left up against Saka but he handled it well on the whole. 7

Rodrigo Bentancur

Picked up a yellow card for bringing down Saka on the run but played a strong role in the engine room. 7

Pape Matar Sarr

An energetic first half capped by a wonderful goal over Raya from just over the halfway line. 8

Mohammed Kudus

Always a threat to Arsenal with his runs forward and had a couple of blocked shots on the edge of the box. 7

Lucas Bergvall

Playing in the number 10 position, other than one sloppy pass, the young Swede was effective in most of what he did as he often made up another number in midfield. 7

Wilson Odobert

Struck the right-hand post with a slightly deflected shot but was quiet at most other times. 6

Richarlison

Had a header blocked in front of goal after Porro's corner hit the post and was unfortunate that the rebound after Kudus' corner hit the other post bounced against him and over the crossbar. 6

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