Tottenham Hotspur snapped a four-match losing streak in the Premier League with a hard-fought, nervy victory over Burnley, who were consequently relegated on their return to the top flight.
Ange Postecoglou's side had plummeted in recent weeks, so feeble and flimsy across the board, but three points in the penultimate home fixture have consolidated Spurs' hold on a Europa League-qualifying position.
It was not a good performance, far from the fluency and ferocity of Tottenham's early-season exploits, but it will not matter to Postecoglou as he seeks a successful end to his first campaign in England.
As has so often been the case this term, Micky van de Ven played a blinder and salvaged the win for his side, scoring late on after cutting inside and firing a well-taken finish to send the Clarets spiralling.
Micky van de Ven's stats vs Burnley
Tottenham signed Van de Ven from German side Wolfsburg in a £43m transfer last summer and he has proved himself invaluable throughout the season, hailed for his "frightening" athletic ability by teammate James Maddison.
Throughout the campaign, he has endured periods of absence due to injury and the loss of his singular qualities has been keenly felt by his Spurs side, with five of the seven losses before the four-game skid arriving without the 23-year-old's inclusion.
Against Burnley, he might have popped up with the match-winning moment but this must not take from a stunning all-round performance that saw the Dutchman switch to left-back when Radu Dragusin entered the field of play after 75 minutes.
Writing in his post-match thoughts, football.london's Alasdair Gold lauded the 'imperious' performance and handed Van de Ven an 8/10 match rating, with his energy felt as he mopped everything up, his crispness observed through some pinpoint and controlled passing and his defensive solitity noted after he won 100% of his ground duels, as per Sofascore.
He was top-notch, as has been the case so often this season, but his effort saved the dismal display of some of his attacking teammates, with Dejan Kulusevski particularly poor on an afternoon that called for a big performance from the Swede.
Dejan Kulusevski's performance vs Burnley
Kulusevski has lost his way in recent months and after starting all 19 of Tottenham's opening Premier League matches of the season, he has been benched four times and has clinched just one goal and one assist apiece since December.
Against Burnley, he needed to stand out and prove his worth as an indispensable member of the team but failed to do so, with Gold handing him a slightly generous 6/10 match rating and writing: 'Set up Johnson for an early chance and was busy around the pitch with a shot saved by Muric but his final ball was lacking and he lost the ball a couple of times in good positions.'
Minutes played
75'
Goals
0
Assists
0
Touches
42
Accurate passes
11/17 (65%)
Shots taken
1
Key passes
3
Dribble attempts
0/3
Dribbled past
2x
Possession lost
20x
Duels won
4/18
He was dreadfully unconvincing in defensive moments and failed to progress the play with all three of his attempted dribbles, and while Kulusevski placed three key passes for his peers and had a good chance at goal, he was wasteful in possession and even lost 14 of his 18 contested duels to underline his poor effort.
Kulusevski is a talented and hard-working attacking midfielder and he proved himself a centrepiece of Postecoglou's system when it was firing on all cylinders in those fantastic first few months.
But he's fallen from form quite dramatically recently and will need to pick himself up across Spurs' final two games of the campaign, lest he lose his place after the summer.
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