ANTONIN KINSKY was at risk of making English football look easy.
After all, the relative unknown from the Czech Republic had become the first Tottenham goalkeeper in 101 years to earn clean sheets in his first two games for the club.
AlamyAntonin Kinsky saw his fortunes dip in the derby[/caption]
PAKinsky had a couple of wobbly moments at Arsenal[/caption]
He had been only the second stopper to prevent Liverpool from scoring this term – then successfully repelled Tamworth’s aerial bombardment.
But a whirlwind first week showed the 21-year-old IS fallible after two rocky moments that helped Arsenal fight back for a thrilling 2-1 North London derby win.
First Kinsky became the latest goalie to fall victim to Nicolas Jover’s set-piece specials, with Declan Rice’s corner sailing over his head, allowing Gabriel to head in off Dominic Solanke.
Then the £12.5million capture from Slavia Prague failed to keep out a well-struck, but savable, shot from former Spurs target Leandro Trossard just before the break.
Calling them gaffes would be a bit harsh – particularly given the unrelenting pressure Arsenal put Kinsky under.
But they did blot an otherwise unblemished copybook since arriving 11 days ago to solve Ange Postecoglou’s goalkeeping crisis.
Spurs accelerated their plans to bring in a new stopper by a window after Fraser Forster struggled to play out from the back like Postecoglou demands.
That followed No1 Guglielmo Vicario fracturing his ankle in November’s 4-0 win at Manchester City, with the Italian not expected back until late February.
GettyThe Czech ace was initially on a high after Spurs took the lead[/caption]
Kinsky was the man they plumped for, having been identified by technical director Johan Lange, and chairman Daniel Levy spending two days in Prague from New Year’s Day to conclude a deal.
The son of a former Czech Republic international – also called Antonin Kinsky – the youngster had helped Slavia go seven points clear.
He was already being compared to Petr Cech for his concentration and hailed as excellent with his ambidextrous feet.
Postecoglou threw him straight in against Liverpool in last week’s Carabao Cup, where he was excellent and even did a keepy-uppy over Diogo Jota’s head early on.
His save from Darwin Nunez in stoppage time meant Arne Slot’s side – who had won 6-3 at Spurs 17 days earlier – failed to score in only the second game this season.
Kinksy then was given a completely different challenge on National League Tamworth’s plastic pitch.
And while Spurs laboured – requiring extra-time to win 3-0 – Kinsky nullified the minnows’ high-ball threat impressively.
The two shut-outs saw him match the feat managed by Spurs stopper Freddy Hinton way back in 1924.
On Friday, Postecoglou praised Kinksy for how his presence in the box had given “confidence” to the defence around him.
For much of last night, that was the case as Kinsky punched, clawed and claimed at the set-piece deliveries that came his way.
But crucially, he got nowhere near Rice’s in-swinger for Arsenal’s leveller, which chalked off Son Heung-min’s controlled volley, with five minutes to the break.
He will know he could have done better with Trossard’s drive four minutes later.
It did not dent the young man’s belief though – as proven by a gutsy backheel when under pressure after the break.
Spurs games under Postecoglou are always great fun to watch, even more so now with their new man between the sticks.
AlamyFraser Forster had struggled to play out from the back[/caption] Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
