Burnley relegated after Micky van de Ven kept Tottenham's season alive | first division

When he finally arrived, there was an air of resignation about Vincent Kompany. For almost 40 minutes of the second half, his Burnley The team had somehow held out against a Tottenham attack as Ange Postecoglou's team launched wave after wave of attacks.

After taking a surprise first-half lead thanks to a fine shot from Jacob Bruun Larsen, a Tottenham comeback thanks to goals from Pedro Porro and Micky van de Ven ended Burnley's valiant resistance and confirmed that they are returning to the point where they came from 12 months ago. back.

“I told the players: don't sulk or complain, we just have to move on and try to come back next season,” Kompany said. “Every game is a lesson, but we have to keep the energy high. The good times will return for this club.”

As well as maintaining their slim chances of reaching the Champions League – only a win over Manchester City on Tuesday could help give Arsenal the title will be enough to catch Aston Villa in fourth place – there was also relief for Postecoglou when he avoided becoming the first Spurs manager since Ossie Ardiles in 1994 to lose five league games in a row. While this was far from a return to his fluid best from earlier in the season, he acknowledged that sometimes the result is the only thing that matters.

“This was always going to be difficult for us: losing four games will surely affect the players and create stress and anxiety,” said Postecoglou, who revealed that they are still waiting for the results of scans on Richarlison's knee that could determine he will be out. of Tuesday's meeting with Pep Guardiola's team.

“City are an incredible team who have set the standards in this league, but they are in our place and we will try.”

Postecoglou had been a guest of the Australian government at a tea party at Buckingham Palace this week and said he would have no qualms about dealing a knockout blow to Burnley, who King Charles revealed was his favorite team in 2012.

But after their opponents suffered four first division After defeats for the first time in 20 years, the Kompany players, who applauded their fans along with their coach at the final whistle, were always going to go down fighting.

It took a Cristian Romero goal-line clearance to save Tottenham early on after Guglielmo Vicario had parried a Vitinho header, while Arijanet Muric denied Brennan Johnson on what would be a busy afternoon for the Tottenham goalkeeper. Burnley.

Not for the first time this season, however, it was Spurs who found themselves losing at home when Sander Berge was too strong on Porro before playing in Bruun Larsen, who finished decisively to spark wild celebrations in the away section enjoying the sunlight.

Luckily for Postecoglou, when the murmurs of discontent were just beginning to become audible, his team was not left behind for long. Porro made up for the mistake by racing away from Dara O'Shea after being fed by Johnson before smashing the ball past Muric to leave Kompany kicking in frustration.

Johnson should have given Tottenham the lead when Muric gifted him possession inside his own penalty area, but the Welsh striker could only find the side netting.

Tottenham have become accustomed to winning games this season with good second half performances and took control after the break.

James Maddison should have done better when playing at Porro, but Muric was able to frustrate him after O'Shea stayed on his backside. Having dominated over 80% of possession in the second half, it seemed inevitable that the hosts would find a breakthrough, although Dejan Kulusevski was unable to capitalize on another Burnley mix-up when Josh Cullen gave the ball away cheaply in a dangerous area. A known failure since they were promoted that has cost Kompany's team dearly on several occasions.

Johnson failed to convert his chance after a darting run from Son Heung-min caught him at the far post before Muric denied Pape Sarr with a full save. But just when it looked like Tottenham's luck was going to run out, Van de Ven seized his moment with eight minutes remaining to condemn Burnley to another season in the Championship.