Lucas Bergvall and Antonin Kinsky give new impetus to Spurs’ Postecoglou project

No one was interested in talking to Son Heung-min, so he joked to the group of waiting reporters that Lucas Bergvall was on his way.

Bergvall emerged a few seconds later, in a gray hoodie covering his face and with the man-of-the-match award clutched in his left hand, but he headed straight for the exit.

The star, or villain depending on your perspective, of Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 win over Liverpool last night in the first leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final wanted to avoid answering some awkward questions.

Bergvall performed a similar disappearing act in the match’s 85th minute after a rash challenge on Kostas Tsimikas. The 18-year-old midfielder, already booked for a tackle on Luis Diaz, looked sheepish as referee Stuart Attwell played the favor and he waited to see if he would be sent off.

The Swede escaped further punishment, to the fury of Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, and 60 seconds later produced the greatest moment of his career. If Spurs survive the second leg on February 6 to reach the final on March 16 at Wembley against either Arsenal or Newcastle, his goal will be the defining moment of this tie.

Bergvall has taken a while to adapt to the physicality of English football since joining from Swedish side Djurgarden in the summer in a deal worth around €10m (£8.3m). He made some early cameo appearances in the Premier League and Europa League, but struggled in October’s 3-2 defeat away to Galatasaray in the latter competition, but since making his first Premier League start against Southampton last month, he appears to be growing in stature stature every week.

The teenager’s first Tottenham goal could not have been timed better.

Ange Postecoglou’s side have been battered and battered over the past few weeks by illness, an injury crisis and the harsh realities of spinning records in multiple competitions. Bergvall’s right-footed shot will have given them a huge confidence boost.

Another teenage star makes her mark in #CarabaoCup!#EFL | @SpursOfficial pic.twitter.com/GrdmXK0zEX

— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) 8 January 2025

With his blonde curls bouncing around his face, Bergvall droned to the corner flag and slipped in front of the supporters before being mobbed by his teammates. When the full-time whistle blew, Van Dijk continued his protests to the officials in front of Bergvall, who were indifferent. He received hugs from Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Richarlison and members of the coaching staff as he walked down the tunnel.

His goal gave Tottenham a tonic to temporarily cure their blues.

Since beating Manchester City 4-0 away on November 23, Spurs had won just two of 11 games in all competitions. Getting a win over Arne Slott’s league leaders, who hadn’t lost since September 14, is a far more impressive achievement than defeating Manchester United and Southampton, the sides they faced in those two wins.

“Lucas was brilliant,” Postecoglou said. “He’s just growing all the time. He has that ability as a footballer to create space for himself. He’s got the quality, but he also works hard for the team. We’ve certainly dealt with some adversity, but we’ve had some growth in that .It has certainly been masked by poor results and poor form. I have no doubt that when we get our players back, the foundation is really strong, with a group of players we can really grow with.

“Name me another Premier League team that has two 18-year-olds (Bergvall and Archie Gray) and one that consistently plays out of position. I’m so glad they’re at our football club and you know if two or three years, I just pray that I will benefit from their talent, because if someone else gets it, I will not be happy.”

“He (Bergvall) has matured and learned a lot since he joined us, which is great,” striker Dominic Solanke told reporters after the match. “We want young, hungry players like this. He has put in some very good performances. He still has a lot to work on and improve, but I am sure he will be a great player for us.”

The only competition Bergvall had for man of the match came from Tottenham debutant goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.

Three weeks ago, when Liverpool tore apart Spurs to win 6-3 here in the Premier League, Kinsky was a Slavia Prague enjoying the Czech top flight’s winter break. He was relaxing in a sauna on Friday when he was told to hop on a plane to London because Spurs wanted to buy him for €16m.

The 21-year-old had just two training sessions with his new team-mates before being dropped into the starting XI last night.

It would have been understandable if he looked nervous, but he oozed confidence. Kinsky sprayed passes across the pitch with ease and chipped the ball over Mohamed Salah into the path of Djed Spence on several occasions. He stayed high off his line and didn’t panic under pressure. When Diogo Jota tried to intercept a headed back pass, Kinsky kicked the ball over the Liverpool striker and plucked it out of the air. He also produced an outstanding close-range save to prevent Darwin Nunez from giving Liverpool the lead in the second half.

Without getting too carried away after one game, the Czech Republic U21 international is a significant upgrade on both Fraser Forster and Brandon Austin. There is also an argument to be made, on this evidence, that his distribution is better than first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicarios. Playing with such authority on your debut and on an occasion of this magnitude takes guts. At full-time, he jumped into the stands to embrace his sister.

“I understood when I spoke to him before we signed him that he had a bit about him in terms of security which probably corresponds to his years,” Postecoglou said. “I threw him a huge task today to play against arguably the best team in the world at the moment, in a big game, a semi-final. He just did it really well.

“Credit to (technical director) Johan (Lange) and his team, they were really big on him as a footballer who will suit our style and worked really hard to make it happen now. And you can see why. He is an excellent footballer.”

This was a huge result for Postecoglou.

Tottenham have lost half of their 20 league games so far in his second season as their manager to finish 12th and their chances of qualifying for any European competition, let alone the Champions League, via the Premier League seem slim right now, but their hopes of winning a trophy remain alive.

On a night when Spurs were missing so many key players through injury or suspension, their young stars injected new life into Postecoglou’s project.

(Top photo: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)