Tottenham Hotspur (1) 4 v København (0) 0
By Kaz Mochlinski at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Tottenham Hotspur gained their highest win under Thomas Frank, and a much-needed first success at home for six weeks, as they swept aside København 4-0 with the help of a wonder goal from Micky van de Ven.
Spurs’ superiority was not even impeded by having to play for most of the second half with 10 men after Brennan Johnson was shown a red card. Richarlison also missed a penalty, but it made no difference to the outcome, just in the margin of the victory.
The result maintained Tottenham’s unbeaten start to this season’s Champions League at the halfway point of the league phase - and it was an almost perfect response to the desperately disappointing defeat in the Premier League to Chelsea three days earlier.
Having managed to register only one attempt on target at the weekend, Spurs were transformed in their attacking intent, tearing through the København defence with fast breaks from their own half, which produced all four goals.
The outstanding score was van de Ven’s with just over an hour gone, picking up the ball on the edge of his own penalty area and running with it past five opposition players before beating the visiting goalkeeper, Dominik Kotarski, with a fierce left-foot strike.
“It seems like we had Lionel Messi turned into Micky van de Ven, running down from his own goal and all the way to the other end, and scored a fantastic goal” enthused Frank of his top scorer this season with six goals in all competitions.
However, most Tottenham fans were reminded more of Son Heung-min rather than Leo, recalling the former Spurs captain’s near-identical effort over the same blades of grass against Burnley in December 2019.
That goal won the prestigious Puskas award for the leading score of the year, but the renowned Tottenham Hotspur Stadium announcer and club matchday host, Paul Coyte, is one of many present who feel that van de Ven may well have surpassed it.
The Dutch central defender’s unforgettable finish prompted a standing ovation around the arena, one of many times that Spurs got the crowd to its feet on the night, to banish the boos of Saturday evening.
“You want your bad performance to get out of the way straight away. And the quicker you can bounce back, the better. I was happy with the response” reflected Frank.
“I saw a good performance today, which I’m happy with. We talk a lot about, how can you say, that bounce back mentality, because in life and football there will be setbacks. Every team will experience that. And it’s how we react to that.
“To come out after a bad game, or a bad spell, and come back to it. That’s part of a good team. I’m very happy with the response the players came with today. I think we controlled the game from minute one to the end, more or less.”
The Spurs head coach contributed substantially by sending out a very attacking line-up with a front four of Johnson, Xavi Simons, Wilson Odobert and Randal Kolo Muani - in contrast to the four central midfielders chosen to start against Chelsea.
Frank was rewarded when his team went ahead after not much more than a quarter of an hour. Rodrigo Bentancur won the ball and fed Simons, whose beautiful pass sent Johnson clear to round the keeper and score neatly from a tight angle.
Very encouragingly, Tottenham’s other two forwards combined to double the lead shortly after half-time, when Kolo Muani chased a long ball from Pedro Porro and got past Kotarski before squaring for Odobert to side-foot it into the net.
The match was made safe by van de Ven’s great goal, which was additionally important in settling any nervousness caused by Johnson’s dismissal a few minutes earlier, when a VAR intervention and referee review punished a poor tackle from behind.
In response, Frank switched to a 4-4-1 formation and brought on João Palhinha to help protect Spurs’ advantage, but instead the Portuguese midfielder added a fourth goal from another counter-attack, this time with an assist from Cristian Romero.
On his first start for a month after recovering from a hamstring injury, the Tottenham captain tried to emulate his centre-back partner, van de Ven, ending up being the supplier for Palhinha to get his team’s second goal in the space of three minutes.
The sole slight negative on the night came from several shocking misses by the Spurs strikers, Kolo Muani and then his replacement Richarlison. If the latter had not hit the bar with a header and a stoppage-time penalty, the score could have been even better.
Tottenham Hotspur: (4-2-3-1) Vicario - Porro, Romero (Danso 73), van de Ven, Udogie (Spence 73) - Bentancur, Pape Sarr - Johnson, Xavi Simons (João Palhinha 61), Odobert (Scarlett 80) - Kolo Muani (Richarlison 73)
Copenhagen XI: Kotarski, Lopez, Gabriel Pereira, Hatzidiakos, Suzuki, Achouri, Elyounoussi, Lerager, Clem, Larsson, Moukoko
Subs: Rúnarsson, Buur, Zague, Madsen, Garananga, Silva, Claesson, Cornelius, Dadasson
København: (4-4-2) Kotarski - Suzuki, Gabriel Pereira (Garananga 72), Hatzidiakos, Lopez - Larsson (Daðason 46), Lerager, Clem, Achouri (Robert Silva 76) - Moukoko (Cornelius 72), Elyounoussi (Claesson 72)