Mickey van der Vaan (23, Tottenham Hotspur) showed the class of the reigning Tottenham Player of the Year.
Tottenham defeated Burnley 2-1 in the 37th round of the 2023-2024 Premier League (PL) season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on Nov. 11 (ET).
The result kept Spurs (64 points) alive in the race for fourth place. They remain in fifth place, behind fourth-place Aston Villa (67 points), who have played 36 games. Meanwhile, 19th-placed Burnley remained on 24 points and were relegated after one season.
The fourth spot will now be decided in the remaining two games. Tottenham hosts Manchester City and Sheffield United, while Villa faces Liverpool and Crystal Palace. If Spurs had lost this game, they would have been out of the running for a top-four finish, regardless of the outcome of their remaining matches.
It was a hard-fought win. Spurs struggled from the start and conceded an early goal to Jakob Brunn Larsen in the 24th minute. Panicked, Spurs pushed harder in search of an equalizer, but it wasn’t to be.
Right-back Pedro Foro stepped up to the plate in the 31st minute, exchanging one-twos with his teammate before sprinting past the defense and into an empty space. He then fired a cannonball into the back of the net.
Tottenham pushed forward with Son Heung-min in search of an equalizer, but it didn’t pay off.
They picked up their game in the second half, but had to settle for a couple of good saves from the opposing goalkeeper. The score remained 1-1 until the final minute of stoppage time.
In a moment of crisis, van der Vaan emerged as a hero. The center-back switched to left-back when Radu Dragusin came on in the 30th minute. 스포츠토토 It proved to be a godsend. In the 37th minute, van der Vaan took one touch to strip the defense before beating the goalkeeper with an unstoppable left-footed shot that secured Spurs a valuable three points.
This was a game where van der Vaal, the ‘goal-scoring defender’, really came into his own. He has been in top form since joining Spurs this season. His height and quick feet have made him an integral part of Enzi Postecoglou’s attacking style of play, protecting the Spurs backline.
Van der Vaan has also been a force in the attacking third, finding the back of the net at key moments. He has now scored three league goals.
And all of them have been game-winning goals.
Van der Vaart scored his PL debut goal against Luton Town in October of last year to seal a 1-0 win for Spurs, and he followed that up with a powerful strike against Nottingham last month after being set up by Son Heung-min. This time, he scored a late winner to secure all three points for his team.
Van der Vaart has been in sensational form this season and was named Tottenham’s Player of the Year. Ahead of the Burnley game, Tottenham announced that van der Vaart had been named the club’s Supporters’ Player of the Year. While many felt that captain Son Heung-min or vice-captain Christian Romero should have won the award, van der Vaart proved why he was the fans’ choice by rescuing Spurs from another crisis.