LONDON -- After weeks of attritional football had a section of the Tottenham Hotspur fans pining for the cavalier approach on display in the early days of Ange Postecoglou's reign, Thomas Frank's side turned on the style on Tuesday to blow away FC Copenhagen 4-0 in north London.
Despite their objectively positive start to the season, discontent has been simmering in N17 with the home support demanding the free-flowing attacking football the club has always valued. Last weekend's meek 1-0 defeat to Chelsea marked Spurs' fourth home game in a row without a win and caused frustration to boil over.
Indeed, the talk leading into this one was around Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence's apparent snub of Frank in the immediate aftermath of the defeat on Saturday and whether it was a sign of frustration within the camp.
So what better timing for Spurs that for their next game to be against Copenhagen? The Danish side have never beaten an English team away from home in any competition, and they have claimed just two wins from their last 21 away games in the Champions League proper.
That said, Spurs were fully deserving of the big win as much-maligned stars of recent weeks came to the fore in a second-half attacking binge headlined by Van de Ven's astonishing solo goal that served to lift the mood in north London.
Even Brennan Johnson's unfortunate red card and Richarlison's missed penalty couldn't dent the party atmosphere at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
The result leaves Spurs unbeaten from their first four league phase matches and looking well-set for a place in the knockout stage.
Spurs' attacking intent rewarded with goal blitz
After amassing an xG of just 0.05 against Chelsea -- the lowest in Spurs' recorded Premier League history -- Thomas Frank will have known that putting on a coherent attacking display in this game was almost as important as the result.
Spurs fans' insistence on attacking football is perhaps unmatched in England. That is not to say they don't appreciate the odd backs-to-the-wall battle for a result, but as soon as it becomes a pattern, they will voice their displeasure.
Weeks of stodgy performances reached a nadir with Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Chelsea. If Frank needed a sign that putting on a coherent attacking display in this game was almost as important as the result, he only needed to look at the host of empty seats around the ground for what was an intriguing enough Champions League tie.
Spurs made sure to prove that the fans' concerns had been heeded against Copenhagen as more complex attacking combinations and a much-improved high press had the visitors on the back foot from the start.
A moment of true quality from Simons got Spurs going before Randal Kolo Muani's Zinedine Zidane-esque first touch set up Wilson Odobert to double Spurs' lead after the interval.
After being served up such thin gruel in recent weeks, the Spurs fans were then able to feast on a truly special solo effort from Van de Ven and a quickfire fourth from substitute João Palhinha as all of Frank's prayers were answered.
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Simons, Kolo Muani make their mark
Simons and Kolo Muani have endured a rocky start to their Spurs careers after moving to north London just three days apart at the end of the transfer window.
Simons arrived knowing Spurs had initially hoped to sign Morgan Gibbs-White or Eberechi Eze as their creative spark, but after being forced to turn to the high-pedigree Dutchman, many predicted Frank had actually ended up with the best of the three.
But Simons' struggles with adjusting to the physical nature of modern-day English football has left him looking every inch a third-choice option in the early weeks of his Tottenham career.
He was not alone in looking out of his depth in the Chelsea defeat last weekend, but he was alone in suffering the ignominy of being brought off after having been sent on as a substitute, albeit he had been introduced in the seventh minute after Lucas Bergvall suffered a concussion.
His perfectly-weighted through ball for Johnson's opener on Tuesday served to release the tension that had been building in the wake of three home games without a win.
Simons could have had another assist after some delvilish interplay with Wilson Odobert, but Kolo Muani flashed wide of the near post. Having missed a free header that would have sent Spurs into half-time just minutes later, the Frenchman will be wondering how he is yet to get off the mark for his new team.
But, Kolo Muani had his moment in the sun when he chased down goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski's attempted clearance and effortlessly killed the loose ball as it dropped, allowing him to lay on Odobert for an easy finish in the 51st minute.
Van de Ven says sorry in style
For Spurs fans, there is perhaps no more electrifying sight than watching Van de Ven thunder across the pitch in full flight to deny an opposition attacker.
The only thing better, it turns out, is watching him hammer the ball into the net after a near 75-yard tilt towards the south stand. It was a goal instantly reminiscent of Son Heung-Min's Puskas award-winning strike against Burnley in 2019.
In that game, Jan Vertonghen played a simple five-yard pass to Son deep inside the Spurs half before the South Korean sped through the Burnley team and dinked a finish over the goalkeeper.
Five years and 11 months since Son's goal entered Spurs folklore, here it was again -- this time with a typically Van de Ven twist.
Gone was the pitter-patter of Son's quick feet as he dinked his way past the defenders, replaced here by the long strides of the rampaging centre-back.
Apart from a brief cut to the left to evade the challenges of two scrambling defenders, Van de Ven ran in a straight line from box to box before finishing with a satisfying thwack into the bottom corner.
That he pulled off the feat a few days after apologising to Frank for refusing to join his manager and his teammates for a lap of appreciation for the home fans on Saturday, served to repair all lingering tensions between the centre-back and the Spurs faithful.
Key stats
Brennan Johnson became the first British player to get sent off and score in a Champions League match
Johnson snapped a 10-game scoreless streak with club and country. Tuesday's goal was his second in his last 16 games. The 10-game stretch was his longest goal drought since a 16-game run April - Sept. 2024.
The 4-0 win was the joint second largest winning margin for Spurs in the Champions League.
Information from ESPN's Global Sports Research contributed to this story