Micky van de Ven brilliance silences Spurs critics as internal pressure finally pays off before Man Utd clash
Micky van de Ven, the team’s top scorer, covered up the obvious flaws at Tottenham Hotspur with an incredible goal of the season contender against FC Copenhagen.
As his team finished a rare 1-0 thrashing on Saturday, Thomas Frank suffered his first serious setback as head coach of Spurs, recording their second-lowest ever xG (0.1) in a Premier League game.
Pitchforks were rightfully thrown at Frank and his “League Two team” following this disastrous Tottenham performance since their current Premier League sixth-place ranking does not fully reflect their problems at home and concerning lack of a goal threat.
With visitors FC Copenhagen failing to defeat an English team away, Spurs and Frank are lucky to have had the easiest chance to secure their first home victory since their September 24 success over League One team Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday.
The misfiring forwards of the north London team also had the opportunity to acquire confidence against charitable opponents because Copenhagen had given up 14 goals overall and two or more goals in their previous five Champions League games.
And about the 20-minute mark, Tottenham seized the lead, demonstrating Copenhagen’s vulnerability.
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Spurs had a strong start to the match, penning Copenhagen in their half. As soon as the away team committed players forward, they were picked off.
Elegant After catching a loose pass, Rodrigo Bentancur sent it to Xavi Simons, a summer addition, who lofted through the ball and sent Brennan Johnson sprinting.
The Spurs winger did well to score into an open goal from a tight angle after custodian Dominik Kotarski foolishly rushed out of his area, compounding the first mistake.
Tottenham had the ideal opportunity to take advantage of this gift and establish a dominant lead, but they were unable to do it prior to halftime.
After a fantastic exchange with Wilson Odobert, Simons who has been compared to Antony was at the centre of all of Tottenham’s positive moments and should have had a second assist, but Randal-Kolo-
Muani pulled his shot wide from close range. Simons has received criticism lately. Shortly before halftime, Kolo-Muani had an even better opportunity to start for Spurs.
Simons’ deft delivery set him a free header inside ten yards, which the struggling striker blasted over the bar.
These mistakes would have been penalised if Tottenham had been up against more formidable competition.
Despite enjoying 67% control in the first half, the hosts’ defence was lax and they had the same number of shots on goal (two).
However, Kotarski gave Spurs another boost as they extended their lead just as they were beginning to face the fury of their irate supporters.
Pedro Porro’s wayward long ball was misunderstood by the disastrous custodian, and Kolo Muani beat him to the punch before displaying poise to let Odobert score from close range.
The striker, who desperately needs a goal, played well, albeit it didn’t make up for his previous misses.
Johnson’s red card for a hasty and unnecessary sliding challenge minutes later promised to set up a typically Spursy conclusion to this game, but their two centre backs who also happen to be some of their most potent attackers made sure that didn’t happen.
First thing to think of is one of the most impressive goals of the season was scored by top scorer Micky van de Ven, who scored his sixth goal of the 2025–2026 campaign.
Bonus points to anyone who hears the shocked Spurs fan’s X-rated off-mic comment following the road runner’s clinical conversion. Naturally, this prompted Cristian Romero, a fellow centre back, to give himself a nosebleed.
The Tottenham captain moved into the penalty area almost immediately after kickoff and helped Joao Palhinha score his fourth goal of the year.
Even though Richarlison’s penalty kick in stoppage time stopped Spurs from hitting Copenhagen for five, this is still Frank’s greatest victory at his new team.
Although Van de Ven’s moment of individual brilliance largely covers up the flaws that would have been revealed had they faced an acceptable opponent, it gives Frank and his team a much-needed boost of optimism as they achieved the desired outcome.
Spurs cannot get carried away by this performance unless they provide answers against Manchester United this weekend because, barring an outstanding performance from Simons, the same problems persist as Kolo Muani’s shortcomings in front of goal and their general lack of cohesiveness justify the reported internal “desperation” for “new attackers in January.”
