{"id":67092,"date":"2023-10-07T20:25:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-07T20:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/07\/tottenham-record-best-start-to-a-season-since-1980-top-of-the-epl-table\/"},"modified":"2023-10-07T20:25:00","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T20:25:00","slug":"tottenham-record-best-start-to-a-season-since-1980-top-of-the-epl-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/07\/tottenham-record-best-start-to-a-season-since-1980-top-of-the-epl-table\/","title":{"rendered":"Tottenham record best start to a season since 1980, top of the EPL table"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Ange Postecoglou era just continues to go from strength to strength.<\/p>\n

As the English football world falls in love with the Australian, he\u2019s now on top of the table after Tottenham recorded a 1-0 win against Luton.<\/p>\n

Stream Over 50 Sports Live & On-Demand with Kayo. Join now and start streaming instantly ><\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

The victory propels them two points clear of second placed Machester City who travel to title rivals Arsenal on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t an easy win after they recovered from Yves Bissouma\u2019s dismissal for diving to earn the points.<\/p>\n

Bissouma was sent off just before half-time for his needless second booking at Kenilworth Road.<\/p>\n

But Mickey van de Ven\u2019s first goal for the club soon after the interval clinched unbeaten Tottenham\u2019s sixth win in eight league games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe showed a lot of character and resilience. We started really well, should have been three or four up, but then you get the red card and it is a different type of game,\u201d Postecoglou said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we held it together really well. In the end we get three points at a difficult place to go.\u201d <\/p>\n

The north Londoners\u2019 superb start to Postecoglou\u2019s first season in charge have awoken dreams of an unexpected title challenge.<\/p>\n

While that may yet prove beyond Tottenham, the Australian has undoubtedly had a huge impact on a club that was in turmoil when he arrived from Celtic.<\/p>\n

A toxic combination of Tottenham\u2019s poor results and dour displays, combined with Harry Kane\u2019s close-season move to Bayern Munich, left many expecting another season of turmoil, but Postecoglou has worked wonders to steady the ship.<\/p>\n

He had already earned plaudits for energising Tottenham with his attacking tactics, but this gritty performance will have been equally pleasing.<\/p>\n

It is the best unbeaten start any Tottenham manager has ever made and, with fixtures against Fulham and Crystal Palace up next, they could extend their unbeaten start through the rest of October.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe players want to change the destiny of this football club and that is what they are trying to do on the pitch,\u201d Postecoglou said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going alright, but we\u2019re in October and still have a lot of work to do.\u201d In their first meeting with Tottenham since a goalless draw in 1992, struggling Luton found it impossible to get a foothold in a blistering start from the visitors.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s Ange\u2019s world. (Photo by Henry Browne\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Richarlison should have put Tottenham ahead in the opening moments, but he scuffed wastefully over.<\/p>\n

The Brazilian squandered another good chance seconds later with a low shot that lacked the power and accuracy to Luton keeper Thomas Kaminski, who saved with his foot.<\/p>\n

Son was next to threaten as Tottenham laid siege to Kaminski\u2019s goal, with the South Korean curling wide from inside the area, then forcing a smart stop from the overworked keeper.<\/p>\n

As Tottenham monopolised possession, Dejan Kulusevski\u2019s strike was tipped away by Kaminski.<\/p>\n

After benefiting from the VAR mistake that saw Liverpool\u2019s Luis Diaz denied a legitimate goal in last weekend\u2019s win over the Reds, Tottenham were aided by correct use of the system this time.<\/p>\n

VAR stepped in to rule out Luton\u2019s goal late in the first half when Luton\u2019s Elijah Adebayo shoved Cristian Romero before heading against the far post for Tom Lockyer to nod home the rebound.<\/p>\n

Tottenham were reduced to 10 men on the stroke of half-time when Bissouma, already booked for fouling Chiedozie Ogbene, blatantly dived in an attempt to win a free-kick after Marvelous Nakamba\u2019s challenge.<\/p>\n

Referee John Brooks wasn\u2019t fooled by Bissouma\u2019s attempted deception and immediately showed a second yellow card to the Mali midfielder.<\/p>\n

Adebayo should have made Luton\u2019s numerical advantage pay off straight after half-time, but he shot woefully wide from close-range after being picked out by Ogbene\u2019s cross.<\/p>\n

That miss proved the turning point as Tottenham took the lead in the 52nd minute.<\/p>\n

James Maddison\u2019s determined run took him to the byline and he pulled the ball back to Van de Ven, who applied the finishing touch with a deft finish from six yards.<\/p>\n

Carlton Morris squandered Luton\u2019s best chances to equalise in quick succession, dragging his shot wide from a good position before firing straight at Tottenham keeper Guglielmo Vicario.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Ange Postecoglou era just continues to go from strength to strength. As the English football world falls in love with the Australian, he\u2019s now on top of the table after Tottenham recorded a 1-0 win against Luton. Stream Over 50 Sports Live & On-Demand with Kayo. Join now and start streaming instantly > The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[32655,7632,548,12757,14014,527,32656,32652,32651,32657,1425,27820,528,9044,32601,1308,15673,2234,32594,584,32654,32658,14222,9521,32600,25549,18850,32653,29821,17488],"class_list":{"0":"post-67092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-amazing-early-season-success","9":"tag-australian-football","10":"tag-bayern-munich","11":"tag-carlton-morris","12":"tag-close-season-move","13":"tag-cristian-romero","14":"tag-curling-wide","15":"tag-english-football-world","16":"tag-finishing-touch","17":"tag-genuine-magician","18":"tag-getty-images-inc","19":"tag-guglielmo-vicario","21":"tag-henry-browne","22":"tag-henry-winkler","23":"tag-james-maddison","24":"tag-john-brooks","25":"tag-league-games","26":"tag-legitimate-goal","27":"tag-luis-diaz","28":"tag-magical-streak-rolls","29":"tag-numerical-advantage-pay","30":"tag-opening-moments","31":"tag-shot-wide","32":"tag-shoutout-form","33":"tag-thomas-kaminski","34":"tag-tom-lockyer","35":"tag-toxic-combination","36":"tag-unbeaten-start","37":"tag-unexpected-title-challenge"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}