Micky van de Ven scored a remarkable solo goal as Tottenham Hotspur defeated FC Copenhagen 4-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday night. The Dutch centre-back picked up the ball on the edge of his own penalty area, surged forward past several Copenhagen players, and calmly slotted home to make it 3-0.
Manager Thomas Frank joked that van de Ven had turned into Lionel Messi for the goal. “It seems like we had Lionel Messi turned into Micky van de Ven, roaring down from his own goal all the way to the other end and scored a fantastic goal,” Frank said. “I think he’s our top scorer in all competitions, so he can keep going.”
Van de Ven’s goal came shortly after Brennan Johnson was sent off, leaving Spurs with 10 men. Joao Palhinha added a fourth goal to seal a dominant performance. The win lifted Tottenham to seventh in the Champions League standings with two wins from four games.
The goal drew comparisons to Gareth Bale’s famous solo effort against Inter Milan, with pundit Owen Hargreaves calling it “one of the best goals you will ever see”. Van de Ven, however, played down the strike. “I started dribbling and thought I would see if they would catch up and they didn’t,” he said.
The victory came after a poor defeat to Chelsea at the weekend, which drew criticism from pundits. Frank praised his team’s response but declined to comment on the criticism, saying it was important to bounce back quickly.
