Spurs finally had reason to smile on Monday night, beating Coventry City 3–1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for their first Premier League win of the campaign.
James Maddison grabbed the attention with a superb goal on his return to the starting XI, but the evening offered plenty else to discuss, not least the display of summer signing Jan Paul van Hecke. Roberto De Zerbi’s men arrived under real pressure after a poor start to their first six league games, yet goals from Maddison, Omar Marmoush and Ben Davies brought three precious points and lifted the club off the bottom of the table.
Van Hecke’s night was a mixed one. In the first half the Dutch defender made a vital block to stop Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, a reminder of his knack for stepping up when Spurs were stretched. He was also criticised for his part in the build-up to Coventry’s equaliser, which underlines the inconsistency that has made his early Tottenham outings a talking point. He will hope to build on the good moments as he settles into life in north London.
For De Zerbi, the result could be a significant one, giving a shaky squad some much-needed belief and easing the heat on the club. Maddison’s strong return, Marmoush’s first Tottenham goal and Davies’ late strike gave fans plenty to cheer, and Dejan Kulusevski’s comeback after 526 days out of competitive action added to the lift.
Next up is a meeting with Chelsea, where Tottenham can show that this win marks the start of a real turnaround and not just a brief spell of improvement.
