Tottenham go top of Premier League after hard-fought win over Luton

Micky van de Ven scores winner after Spurs play second half with 10 men

Micky van de Ven of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates scoring the opening goal against Luton Town on Saturday, October 7, 2023. EPA

Luton Town's Teden Mengi fights for the ball with Tottenham Hotspur's Destiny Udogie. Reuters

Pedro Porro of Tottenham Hotspur misses a chance against Luton Town. Getty

Micky van de Ven of Tottenham scores his team's first goal. Getty

Luton Town's Carlton Morris attempts a header towards goal. PA

Tottenham Hotspur's Yves Bissouma is shown a red card by referee John Brooks. PA

Luton Town's Tom Lockyer scores a disallowed goal. Reuters

Tottenham climbed to the top of the Premier League table as they recovered from Yves Bissouma's dismissal to earn a 1-0 win against Luton Town on Saturday.

Spurs banked all three points despite playing the whole of the second half with 10 men.

Dutch defender Micky van de Ven scored the only goal of the game in the 52nd minute when he poked home a first-time shot after a cut back from James Maddison following a Spurs short corner move.

Bissouma was sent off just before half-time for his needless second booking at Kenilworth Road. He had already been carded for a tactical foul before being given a second yellow for diving.

But Van de Ven's first goal for the club clinched unbeaten Tottenham's sixth win in eight league games. Ange Postecoglou's side sit two points clear of second-placed Manchester City, who travel to title rivals Arsenal on Sunday.

The north Londoners' superb start to Postecoglou's first season in charge has raised hopes of an unexpected title challenge.

Luton missed some clear chances after surviving an early Spurs storm, but fell to their sixth league defeat of the season.

Spurs should have gone ahead inside 10 minutes. Richarlison was guilty of fluffing his lines twice, firing off target via his shin with the goal at his mercy from Dejan Kulusevski's third-minute cross before Thomas Kaminski denied the Brazilian with his feet after James Maddison's slick through ball 60 seconds later.

Pedro Porro was next to squander an excellent opportunity when Son Heung-min played him through and he fired wide. The Tottenham captain also curled into the stand before Luton started to settle.

Spurs boss Postecoglou praised the resilience of his team after the half-time setback.

"[We showed] a lot of character and resilience, which the team has showed a lot in the previous games before today. 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," he told TNT Sports.

"I thought we held it together really well. They had some opportunities, we had a few of our own. In the end we get three points at a difficult place to go."

Player of the match Van de Ven was delighted to get off the mark for his new club.

"An incredible match, I think we showed a great mentality as a team. Really happy I managed to score my first goal for the club and we got a clean sheet too, which is what we want as defenders," he said.