Ten-man Tottenham moved top of the Premier League table on Saturday afternoon, courtesy of Micky Van de Ven’s goal in a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Luton.
Spurs missed a plethora of early chances at Kenilworth Road, and were reduced to 10 when Yves Bissouma was shown a second yellow card for diving on the cusp of half time.
It was Luton’s turn to miss multiple opportunities in the second half, most notably when Elijah Adebayo bundled wide with the goal gaping. But it was a smart short corner that earned this resilient Spurs side a win after Van de Ven stabbed in from close range.
Ange Postecoglou’s team could have raced into an unassailable early lead in Bedfordshire. First, a fine passing move resulted in Dejan Kulusevski crossing dangerously from the right. Town failed to clear and Richarlison skewed wide from two yards when it appeared easier to score.
Next, Heung-Min Son and Kulusevski combined to pick out James Maddison in midfield, whose incisive pass sent Richarlison through on goal. The Brazilian shot across goal towards the bottom right corner, but Town keeper Thomas Kaminski denied him with his outstretched left boot.
Spurs continued to move the ball through the thirds with purpose when Van de Ven played into Son. The forward tapped to Porro, accepted a return pass and sent the Spaniard through on goal with another perfectly-timed pass. Porro stretched to poke the ball beyond Kaminski, but was unfortunate to see his effort trickle past the post.
Luton could not cope with the tempo at which Tottenham exchanged passes, and after Son curled inches over the top left corner, Town started making clumsy mistakes of their own. Lockyer was booked when he miscontrolled Kaminski’s goal kick and lunged in on Richarlison. Then Alfie Doughty stumbled and Marvelous Nakamba miskicked, but Son let them off the hook by scuffing into the arms of Kaminski.
The Town defence was in disarray once again when Nakamba was dispossessed by Pape Matar Sarr. The Senegalese rolled into the path of Kulusevski whose curling shot was destined for the bottom left corner, but Kaminski dived to his right to heroically tip behind.
The hosts had been starved of the ball until Chiedozie Ogbene dispossessed Porro in midfield. As the Irishman looked to race upfield, Bissouma hauled him down and was swiftly shown a yellow card by referee John Brooks.
From the resulting free kick, Doughty’s deep cross was headed across goal by Carlton Morris to Adebayo who pushed Christian Romero over as he hooked towards goal. As the ball rebounded off the post, Tom Lockyer headed into the net and received a kick in the face from Destiny Udogie. In the meantime, Brooks had spotted Adebayo’s shove on Romero and subsequently disallowed the goal.
Spurs regained control and pushed for an opener as Bissouma embarked on another probing run towards the Luton penalty area before half time. As the Ivorian weaved between defenders at speed, he decided to throw himself to the ground in anticipation of a tackle which never arrived. Brooks was left with no choice but to show the midfielder a second yellow card and send him off.
Town sought to capitalise on their one-man advantage in the second half by committing more players forward and almost took a surprise lead when Ogbene shook off Udogie on the right flank and crossed towards Adebayo at the back post. Firm contact on the ball would have resulted in a goal, but the gangly forward conspired to trap the ball under his right foot and bundle behind for a goal kick.
Spurs immediately punished the Hatters for their wastefulness. After forcing a succession of corners, Maddison’s set piece from the left was headed behind by Mpanzu for another corner on the other side. Despite jogging crossfield through a crowded area and towards the opposite corner flag, the former Leicester man was left unmarked and able to receive a short corner from Kulusevski. Displaying impressive agility, Maddison danced past Doughty and passed into Van de Ven whose low left-footed shot squirmed beneath Kaminski and into the net.
Having conceded the first goal in seven of their eight Premier League matches, Luton were in familiar if uncomfortable territory and brushed themselves down by attacking Tottenham. Mpanzu crossed from the right towards Doughty who volleyed across goal, but his promising effort was deflected behind by the diving Porro.
Minutes later, Doughty regained possession in midfield and passed into Adebayo. The Town number 11 passed to Carlton Morris on his left when Jacob Brown on the right might have been a more inviting option. Morris performed two step-overs and shifted the ball onto his left foot, but was unable to deceive Romero. The forward was still able to release a shot that forced Guglielmo Vicario into a two-handed save, but Town’s players and supporters sensed another valuable chance had slipped away.
Spurs chose their moments to attack and almost put the result beyond all doubt when Porro curled inches wide of the post with the outside of his right foot, but Postecoglou’s men would have to defend diligently for the final few minutes to claim all three points.
Town still had three more opportunities from which they should have equalised. Doughty’s cross from the left found an unmarked Brown in the box, however the former Stoke striker headed over. Next, Van de Ven let a long ball bounce and Morris headed through to Cauley Woodrow. After a loose first touch, the substitute was unable to dig the ball out from under his feet and struck tamely towards the grateful Vicario.
Doughty endeavoured to go alone and salvage a point, yet his curling shot from the right was deflected over the bar by Porro, who had impressed at both ends of the pitch. The right-back’s tenacity shone through in a team which is being moulded in its manager’s image. As the full-time whistle blew, Spurs celebrated their best start to a season since 1980.
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