Micky van de Messi? How Spurs defender scored ‘ridiculous’ solo goal

When you are compared to Lionel Messi, you can tell that you have scored a special goal.

Even more so if you play center-half.

With Tottenham 2-0 ahead, but 10 men down, and Copenhagen’s pressure on them, Micky van de Ven could have been held accountable for kicking the ball safely into his own penalty area.

The Netherlands defender, however, had other ideas.

In the end, the Spurs fans erupted as one in anticipation as he sprinted past one, two, three players, squeezing past another two near the halfway point, and outpacing a Copenhagen defender to score.

And Van de Ven, who had scored one of the outstanding Champions League goals, did not let the finish pass past goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski. After being mobbed by jubilant team-mates, they both scored one more excellent goals.

After beating Danish side Copenhagen 4-0 to maintain their unbeaten start to the Champions League campaign, Spurs manager Thomas Frank said, “It seems like Lionel Messi turned into Micky van de Ven and ran from his own goal to score.”

Van de Ven, 24, signed for Tottenham for £34 million from Wolfsburg in August 2023 and has recently added goals to his arsenal.

He added two goals to his team’s 3-0 win over West Ham, 2-2 Champions League draw at Bodo Glimt, and two more in the team’s 3-0 victory over Everton last month.

But neither of those compare to the one he received on Tuesday.

Van de Ven told TNT Sports, “I started dribbling and hoped they would catch up,” and they didn’t.

Some people were much more enthusiastic about the quality of Van de Ven’s goal, compared to Van de Ven’s effort to remain calm.

Former England international Owen Hargreaves described it as “one of the best goals you will ever see, ever.”

He “runs past players like they’re not even there.” That’s ridiculous. To continue fighting and then come to an end. Game over, season-ending goal.

Nedum Onuoha, a former defender for Manchester City, stated on Match of the Day: Champions League: “It’s top. Really, really good.

He ran more than half the length of the pitch before scoring Brennan Johnson in a 3-0 victory over Manchester United, similar to when he assisted at Old Trafford last year.

It’s difficult to understand who should stop those runs when defenders attempt them. We actually witnessed a player on the other side of the pitch who had no interest in him because of his size and quickness.

Former Premier League defender Curtis Davies said: “He kind of stepped out looking for a pass and nothing was on.” He was aware of the distance ahead of him because he was unaware that anyone was catching him. He was moving at a full rate.

After their team were booed off the pitch at the end of their 1-0 home loss to Chelsea on Saturday, it was a much-needed victory for Tottenham and Frank.

Even though they had won five points in their first three Champions League games, that left them with just one point from three successive home Premier League games.

The supporters responded to Frank’s plea for fans to support the team because they contributed to creating a fantastic atmosphere along with a passionate following from the visitors.

When Tottenham opened the scoring with a 19th-minute lead thanks to Brennan Johnson, Wilson Odobert added a second shortly after the restart to give Spurs a 2-0 lead.

When Johnson was sent off, the Belgian official Erik Lambrechts was being examined by the video assistant referee after the Welshman’s sliding challenge on Marcos Lopez’s ankle was revealed.

However, Van de Ven’s moment of magic quickly ended any chance of a comeback as Copenhagen lost favor with Joao Palhinha adding a fourth while the latter had a man advantage. In added time, Richarlison hit the crossbar with a penalty in added time, which was almost a fifth.

Afterward, Frank admitted, “We’re progressing, but we’re not where we want to be.” I was pleased with my performance because it was good. We discussed the importance of “bount-back mentality,” and how to handle setbacks in football is how you recover from a bad spell. From the beginning, we had complete control over the game.

It’s been a mixed few days for Van de Ven.

When Frank had asked the Dane to go and acknowledge the home supporters following the game against Chelsea, he and team-mate Djed Spence appeared to snub him.

Both players thanked each other for the incident, and Frank made a statement during Monday’s news conference.