As the sun sank low and as the Burnley fans made for the exits, the away end at Turf Moor was in full voice.
“We’ve got our Tottenham back,” chanted those who had made the trip from North London. Genuine happiness. It has been a while.
It may only be early September, but optimism is suddenly in rich supply among Spurs supporters, and understandably so. Having suffered last season and having watched their home-grown hero depart in the summer, Tottenham are finally looking upwards again.
Harry Kane may be gone, but Ange Postecoglou is here, and the Australian could hardly have enjoyed a more promising start to his reign.
Those who wondered whether Kane’s move to Bayern Munich would derail Tottenham as an attacking force needn’t have worried. They will miss their talisman, for sure, but when Postecoglou can call upon the likes of James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min, Spurs are never going to be short of goals.
They have managed 11 in their first four Premier League matches now, and have won three successive league games for the first time since May 2022.
Son, undoubtedly, was the star of the show on Saturday, scoring a clinical hat-trick as Postecoglou’s side recovered from a slow start to win 5-2 against a Burnley side which, on the evidence of opening weeks of the campaign, looks ill-equipped to compete at this level.
For Spurs fans, though, there is only positivity. Maddison has settled in seamlessly, Kulusevski’s is back in form, and Manor Solomon looks a shrewd addition too, the Israeli international marking his first Premier League start for the club with a pair of assists, just as Maddison had done on the opening weekend at Brentford.
Tottenham certainly aren’t short of attacking talent. They had Brazil’s number nine, Richarlison, among their substitutes at Turf Moor and added Brennan Johnson, the exciting Nottingham Forest forward, to their ranks in a £45million (€52.5m) deal on transfer deadline day.
That they were able to bring on substitutes with the experience of Ivan Perisic, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, too, speaks to the depth of Postecoglou’s squad.
“Harry is a very important player, don’t get me wrong,” said Son, whose hat-trick was his fourth for Tottenham in the Premier League.
“He’s one of the best players in the world and one of the best players to work with. If you have Harry Kane on your team you have 20-30 goals in your pocket safely!
“But this is part of football. If someone has to leave then you have to respect that, and now everyone has to step up, everyone has to take a big responsibility on the pitch to make and score goals.
“Everyone is good enough to step up. We have good players, especially on the wing, and then we got a new signing as well so we’re very excited about it.”
Spurs fans, too, are excited. They may have had that familiar feeling when Lyle Foster gave Burnley the lead inside four minutes at Turf Moor, but they were in party mood by the end. Their side rode out the early storm well, and their quality was simply too much for Burnley thereafter.
Son drew them level, the first of three quality finishes arriving from a Solomon assist on 16 minutes, and Cristian Romero’s fine 20-yard strike had the visitors ahead by half-time.
After the break Maddison added a third – he now has two goals and two assists in his four league games for the club – before Son completed his hat-trick in style, converting passes from Solomon and Pedro Porro in Kane-esque fashion.
One right foot, one left, both giving James Trafford, the overworked home goalkeeper, no chance.
Josh Brownhill, the Burnley substitute, netted a consolation in stoppage time but Vincent Kompany’s side were well beaten, and remain without a point after their opening three matches, all of which have been played on home soil.
It looks already like it will be a long old season for the Clarets. A relegation battle beckons, and they’ll need to improve significantly at both ends of the pitch if they’re to compete.
For Tottenham, the skies are a lot brighter. When the Son shines, so do Spurs. Onwards and upwards, for Postecoglou’s men.
Trafford 5, Al Dakhil 5, O’Shea 5, Beyer 5 (Cork 74), Roberts 5, Gudmundsson 5 (Delcroix 46, 5), Cullen © 5, Berge 5 (Brownhill 46, 5), Koleosho 6 (Larsen 68, 6), Amdouni 5 (Redmond 60, 5), Foster 6 Substitutes (not used): Muric, Rodriguez, Benson, Odobert Booked: Gudmundsson, Brownhill, Beyer, Delcroix Goals: Foster (4)
Vicario 7, Porro 7, Romero 8, Van de Ven 7, Udogie 7, Bissouma 8, Sarr 7 (Hojbjerg 68, 6), Kulusevski 7 (Skipp 86), Maddison 7 (Emerson Royal 86), Solomon 7 (Perisic 68, 6), Son © 9 (Richarlison 72, 6) Substitutes (not used): Forster, Sanchez, Davies, Phillips Booked: Sarr, Kulusevski, Hojbjerg Goals: Son (16, 63, 66), Romero (45+2), Maddison (54)