Antonin Kinsky’s dream debut helps Tottenham beat Liverpool in EFL Cup semi-final first leg | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur appear to have found the answer to their goalkeeping problems in Antonin Kinsky after his clean sheet in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg win over Liverpool.

Ange Postecoglou has had to make do without first-choice Guglielmo Vicario for 12 matches due to injury. In his stead, Fraser Forster has mostly deputised. But the former Southampton shot-stopper has underwhelmed and cost Tottenham in key matches.

In Tottenham’s past two matches, Postecoglou has tried two different goalkeepers. Against Newcastle United in the Premier League at the weekend, Brandon Austin started between the sticks. He performed well considering he was making his Tottenham debut after a long, long wait.

But at the same time, Tottenham were being linked with signing a new goalkeeper. That man was Kinsky, with the deal confirmed in enough time for him to start on Wednesday night.

And he already has Tottenham fans calling for him to be the club’s long-term No.1 goalkeeper.

Kinsky signed for Tottenham from Slavia Prague in his native Czech Republic. The 21-year-old had played 29 times for Slavia across all competitions in the season, conceding 18 goals with 14 clean sheets. Twelve of those clean sheets came in the league, with one in Champions League qualifying and another in the Europa League.

Of course, a debut against the best team in England right now is a different kettle of fish. But it was a confident debut from the 21-year-old.

Keeping a clean sheet against Liverpool, Kinsky made six saves on the night, including four from shots inside the box. He also had one successful keeper sweeper regain. The 21-year-old looked largely confident in commanding his box, even when there were a couple of shaky moments. He didn’t let anything get to him.

But the real highlight of Kinsky’s performance was his passing.

The 21-year-old was very calm with the ball at his feet, and he needed to be. Only two players attempted more passes than Kinsky’s 45, with the goalkeeper also having 58 touches.

Kinsky attempted 19 long passes and completed six, something Tottenham have never really got from Vicario. In his 12 Premier League appearances so far this season, Vicario attempted 59 long passes with 28 completed. While that’s a better completion rate, he frequency is a lot lower. And Kinsky’s happiness to go long, whether accurate or not, helps Tottenham become a bit more press resistant. Which is something they’ve needed a lot.

This is a signing Tottenham were always planning to make, albeit not as soon as they actually did.

“He is one that we had earmarked for the end of the season to bring in during the summer,” Postecoglou told reporters of Kinsky in the build up to the match.

“We’ve tracked him all season and he is definitely someone we are really excited about. Obviously, with our current goalkeeping situation – we explored the possibility of bringing him in this January.

“It wasn’t easy because he is doing very well for his club, his club is doing well, they are in Europe and top of their league. The club worked really hard to get the deal done in this window and it is a huge benefit to us and adds real quality to our goalkeepers.”

He added: “We’ve got to pick players and goalkeepers that fit our system and the way we play and it’s certainly something that he does very comfortably, but you know it’s his all-round goalkeeping ability. Johan and his scouts have done a lot of background work on him, they’ve been following him all year.

“The intent was to bring him in in the summer, but obviously that not only changed, we thought why not with the way we are in terms of the goalkeepers to try and bring in him earlier.

“I wasn’t confident that was going to happen, but the club worked really hard to make it happen, and I think it’s great for him, it’s great for us. It gives him an opportunity to come in a bit earlier and get bedded into the way we do things and it also adds real quality to our goalkeeping.”

Kinsky’s performance meant that when Lucas Bergvall slotted home in the final five minutes, netting his first Tottenham goal, it was enough to secure the win. Of course, Liverpool fans won’t be happy that Bergvall was on the pitch to score the goal, having avoided a second yellow card just moments prior.

Nonetheless, he wasn’t sent off and did score the winner. It means Tottenham travel to Anfield for next month’s EFL Cup semi-final second leg with the slender lead.