Despite playing the entirety of the second half with 10 men, Tottenham Hotspur topped the Premier League standings with a 1-0 victory over Luton Town on Saturday.
The game’s lone goal was scored in the 52nd minute by Dutch defender Micky van de Ven, who tucked in a first-time effort following a cutback from James Maddison following a Spurs short corner move.
“A lot of character and resilience, which the team has showed a lot in the previous games before today,” Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou said.
After eight league games, Spurs are still unblemished. They now lead Manchester City by two points and Arsenal by three points before their matchup on Sunday. As of now, Luton has four points.
After collecting a second booking for a dive outside of the Luton area and being sent off in stoppage time at the end of the first half, the visitors eventually won all three points after breaking the score early in the second half.
Luton survived an early Spurs storm, but they failed to capitalize on their opportunities and suffered their sixth league loss of the year.
Early on, there was only one direction, and in the seventh minute, Spurs’ Pedro Porro slipped in behind the keeper following a one-two with Son Heung-Min, but Porro missed his attempt.
In the 17th minute, a Dejan Kulusevski cross was only partially cleared by Tom Lockyer, leaving Son with an open shot towards the goal, forcing another save from Luton’s Thomas Kaminski.
In the 21st minute, Luton attempted their first goal-scoring attempt, but Marvelous Nakamba’s shot went high and wide. However, after keeping the Spurs scoreless, the home team showed some bravery and started to make progress toward the goal of the visitors.
Spurs persisted, and at the halfway point Kaminski stretched out to push Kulusevski’s first-time attempt wide.
After 40 minutes, Luton felt they had made a breakthrough. Carlton Morris headed on a free kick into the area, and Elijah Adebayo got a foot on it.
After 40 minutes, Luton felt they had made a breakthrough. Carlton Morris headed a free kick into the area, and Elijah Adebayo put a foot on the ball and glanced it in the direction of the far post.
Lockyer was the first to react and score after the ball rebounded off the upright. However, the goal was disallowed for a foul by Adebayo on Cristian Romero following a protracted VAR review.
However, the free kick ended up costing Spurs since Bissouma was given a card for tripping Chiedozie Ogbene. When the extra time was almost up, Bissouma was booked again for a clear dive.
At the start of the second half, Luton should have made the most of having an extra player, but Adebayo squandered the game’s greatest opportunity by shooting wide.
Van de Ven’s first goal for Spurs would put Tottenham atop the standings five minutes later, with Luton still waiting for their first home victory of the year.
