He may have ended the game sat in the West Ham United dressing room, having been sent-off, but Winston Reid could leave White Hart Lane with his head held high on Saturday evening.
The centre-half returned from a calf injury and one-match ban to produce an imperious defensive display.
In short, the New Zealand international was hugely unfortunate to end his evening in north London on the losing side and facing another suspension.
Statistically, the No2 was peerless for 92 minutes.
Reid made three times as many clearances as any of his teammates with 15, positioning himself superbly and getting his head and boots to virtually everything the home side launched into the Hammers’ penalty area.
Such was Reid’s outstanding reading of the game that he also totalled seven interceptions – four more than the next-best West Ham player, Michail Antonio.
No Tottenham player made more than Jan Vertonghen’s seven clearances, while Mousa Dembele and Harry Winks led the way with two interceptions each.
Auckland-born Reid also found time to assist Antonio for the opening goal of the game, firing a cross-shot into the six-yard box after defensive partner Cheikhou Kouyate had headed Dimitri Payet’s corner against the crossbar.
Reid’s evening looked to be ending on a winning note as the game went into added time, only for Darren Randolph to inadvertently palm Hueng-min Son’s cross into the path of Harry Kane, who then netted the winner after Havard Nordtveit had fouled the South Korea forward.
To add further insult to what had looked to be a near-perfect night’s work for Reid just moments earlier, the defender was booked for fouling Son before being shown a second yellow and a red for a challenge on Kane.
While he may have disputed his second booking, one thing is for sure - Reid will be sorely missed when West Ham head to Manchester United next Sunday afternoon.