100 passes, three tackles: Spurs’ Hojbjerg masterstroke highlighted again

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Tottenham Hotspur got back to winning ways in impressive fashion on Sunday, with Jose Mourinho’s side beating West Brom 2-0 in North London.

Harry Kane and Son Heung-min were the goalscorers. But a number of others stepped up, with the likes of Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura vindicating Mourinho’s faith with brilliant displays.

Several Spurs players deserve the plaudits coming their way. But because of that, it is perhaps fair to say that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s performance has not quite got all of the credit it deserved from many pundits.

Hojbjerg was outstanding against the Baggies. Of course, his most notable moment came when he found Kane with a sumptuous pass for the opening goal.

But some of his other statistics are simply remarkable. As shown by Whoscored.com, he completed 100 successful passes during the game.

To put that into context, Tanguy Ndombele was the second-most prolific passer. But the Frenchman was 24 behind his teammate. West Brom’s starting lineup meanwhile, managed less than 200 between them.

The Dane also made three tackles, two clearances and two interceptions. Davinson Sanchez was the only Spurs player to better Hojbjerg’s tally in any of those three areas, with the centre-back making three clearances.

You can understand why Hojbjerg’s performance may go under the radar with some. His signing in the summer has looked like a masterstroke for some time already.

And some may be wary of getting carried away given that West Brom are battling at the wrong end of the table.

But the quality of the opposition should not stop those who watched the game from pointing out that Hojbjerg produced another masterclass in the middle of the park.