Van de Ven’s Day Out: Spurs Show Class on the Road

Right then, gather ’round. On Sunday at the shiny new Hill Dickinson Stadium (yes, the one replacing Goodison Park after 133 years), we, the glorious Tottenham Hotspur, made ourselves at home. We handed the hosts their very first defeat in that ground with a convincing 3‑0 win courtesy of our iron‑clad set‑pieces and a skipper who stepped up in style.

First Half: Edging Ahead (and exhaling loudly)

Our captain, Micky van de Ven (yes, he of the towering header and calm composure), popped up twice. First in the 19th minute, a fine corner routine: Rodrigo Bentancur’s clever flick redirected by shoulder, then Van de Ven nods it in from a yard out.

And then just before half‑time, he did it again — rising above Jordan Pickford to power home the header. Suddenly the ‘new home’ crowd start shifting in their seats.

In between, the hosts thought they’d equalised when Jake O’Brien nodded one in from a corner. But the VAR chimed in — off‑side interference with our keeper Guglielmo Vicario meant the goal got chalked off. Phew.

By half‑time we were 2‑0 up and feeling slightly smug (don’t tell the neighbours). Their unbeaten run at the new stadium? Finished.

Second Half: Grinding It Out & Sealing The Win

Now, to be fair — this wasn’t some flawless, fireworks‑filled away show. The hosts had plenty of possession, plenty of crosses (34 thrown in, apparently). But our defence held firm: Van de Ven and Kevin Danso did the dirty work at the back; Vicario made some outstanding saves (that one to deny a cheeky overhead from Beto, we’ll come back to you).

Late on, to add gloss, we got the third: Pape Matar Sarr (assisted by former Everton man Richarlison), headed home to make it 3‑0. Game over, job done.

What It Means (For Us, For Them)

• For us Spurs: Three away points. Two headed goals by our captain. A clean sheet. Moving into third place in the Premier League table. Not bad at all.
• For Everton: Their first loss at that new pad. And a striker crisis: Beto and Thierno Barry still misfiring; they had chances but we smothered them.
• And yes — our set‑piece routine? One word: nailed it. Both our opening goals came from corners; Everton hadn’t conceded from set‑plays this season until we came along.

A Bit of Wry Reflection

You’ll excuse the self‑patting: When you’ve followed Spurs for a while you realise these away days — where you don’t dominate entirely, but you do enough, you take your chances and you shut up shop — they feel golden. No chaos required. Just a calm, efficient performance.

Our captain stepping up — Van de Ven turning into a genuine attacking threat as well as the defensive rock we expected. Good to see. Just shows when the defensive base is solid, the rest becomes easier.

So yes, fellow Spurs faithful: Tuesday morning is for celebrating this. Because, away wins are rarer than we’d like, but this one was a statement.