On Saturday, Tottenham Hotspur climbed to the top of the Premier League standings with a 1-0 victory over Luton Town. Despite being reduced to 10 players for the entire second half, the team managed to secure the win. Dutch defender Micky van de Ven netted the game’s only goal in the 52nd minute, capitalizing on a pass from James Maddison after a short corner by Spurs. Manager Ange Postecoglou praised the team’s determination and fortitude, referring to their consistent display of these qualities in previous matches.
After eight league games, Spurs maintain their unbeaten streak and are currently leading by two points over Manchester City and three points over Arsenal. This is before the upcoming match between the two sides on Sunday. Luton, on the other hand, remains with only four points.
In added time at the end of the first half, the away side caused Yves Bissouma to be sent off after he received a second booking for diving outside the Luton area. However, they managed to break the tie early in the second half and ultimately secured all three points.
“The team came out strong, and for the first 10 minutes or so, we were lucky. However, we managed to find our rhythm and get into the game,” stated Luton manager Rob Edwards.
It was not until the 21st minute that Luton had their first shot on goal, but Marvelous Nakamba’s attempt went high and wide. Despite this, the team gained confidence by keeping Spurs from scoring and started making progress towards the visitors’ goal.
Spurs continued to apply pressure, and at the half-hour point, Kaminski made a remarkable full-stretch save to deflect Kulusevski’s first-time shot wide.
Luton believed they had finally made a breakthrough after 40 minutes. A free-kick was delivered into the box, Morris headed it on, and Adebayo managed to touch the ball and redirect it towards the far post.
Unfortunately, the ball hit the upright and rebounded, but Lockyer reacted quickest and headed it into an empty net. However, after a lengthy review by VAR, the goal was disallowed due to a foul committed by Adebayo on Romero.
The free-kick had consequences for Spurs as Bissouma was booked for his foul on Chiedozie Ogbene. Towards the end of added time, Bissouma received a second booking for an obvious dive.
“We had a great start and could have been leading by three or four goals, but once the red card was shown, the dynamic of the game changed,” stated Postecoglou.
Luton had the opportunity to capitalize on their numerical advantage at the beginning of the second half, but Adebayo failed to convert the best chance of the match in the 47th minute, sending his shot wide.
Five minutes later, Van de Ven scored his first goal for Spurs, securing them the top spot in the table, while Luton still awaits their first home victory of the season.
