Vincent Janssen: An opportunity to shine

Vincent Janssen cleared any nerves by scoring his first goal for Spurs against Gillingham. He now looks forward to the next six weeks and his chance to impress in the absence of Harry Kane.

Article by Steven Benton @StevnBentn

Through six competitive fixtures and one start, striker Vincent Janssen found it tough to get on the score sheet for Tottenham. The £17 million signing from Dutch side, AZ Alkmaar has been called upon as a substitute for star man Harry Kane, and he’s played alongside Kane as a starter and a sub. Janssen started as the lone striker for the first time this past Wednesday when we played host to Gillingham in the third round of the English League Cup. In a match we ended up winning easily 5-0, Janssen found his form in the 51st minute when he comfortably put a penalty past Gills sub keeper, Stuart Nelson. White Hart Lane reached its loudest point of the night, and Janssen was swamped by his teammates in celebration.

Shortly after scoring the would-be winner in 1-0 win over Sunderland last Sunday, our own, Harry Kane went down with a right ankle ligament injury. Kane was stretchered off the pitch and now faces at least six weeks sidelined. Even without injury, Kane most likely would not have seen playing time in our tie with League One side, Gillingham. When Mauricio Pochettino received the news of Kane’s absence he said it was time for Janssen to step up and be ready for the challenge ahead. "This is a big opportunity for him to show what he can do and he has to be ready now that Harry is injured, and the damage is done. There is scope for him to play more from the start.” Janssen has now been given the responsibility of being Spurs' main striker and has his teammates and supporters backing him to fill Kane’s boots.

Janssen got the promised start on Wednesday night and started out of the gates taking chance after chance. He had shots saved, shots go wide and even beat keeper Stuart Nelson, but saw his chance bounce off the legs of a Gills defender. It was hard to decide whether or not Janssen was trying too hard to get his first goal, but with every chance he took, his confidence kept growing. Christian Eriksen broke the deadlock in the 31st minute with a beautiful top-corner strike and then put us two goals to the good in the 48th minute with a tap through Nelson’s legs. The Gill’s night took a turn for the worse when Spurs right back Kieran Trippier went down in the penalty box in the 50th minute. Janssen confidently stepped up to the spot and sent Nelson the wrong way. Janssen’s first Spurs goal put the game to bed and sent White Hart Lane into uproar. The game also saw Joshua Onomah’s first goal for the senior team in the 65th minute as well as Erik Lamela’s second competitive goal of the season in the 68th minute.

Vincent Janssen hails from Heesch, Netherlands. He was the top scorer in the Dutch Eredivisie last year, scoring 27 goals in 34 league appearances in his only year at AZ Alkmaar. He also added three goals in the Europa League. He will be looking forward to his Premier League chance when we travel to Middlesbrough on Saturday and his first Champions League start when we travel to Moscow to face CSKA on Tuesday.

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