Tottenham took all three points at Elland Road with a 2-1 triumph against promoted Leeds United.
Mathys Tel took advantage of a transition in the first half to score his first Premier League goal of the season before Mohamed Kudus responded to a Noah Okafor equaliser with a strike of his own.
It is the first time that the Peacocks have lost a battle at their ground in a domestic division since a 1-0 loss to Burnley in the Championship, ending an impressive unbeaten run that lasted for 384 days.
Here are four things we learned from this latest victory for Spurs.
- Mohamed Kudus needs more central minutes
After a 2-2 draw at Bodo, Frank held no prisoners and put his key men back into the starting eleven. One of them was Mohamed Kudus, who hit the ground running again for the Lilywhites on the wing.
He might play from the right flank, but almost everything good that came for Spurs in the first 20 minutes of the match was because of his contributions in the middle of the field. Kudus treasures the ball, has the physicality and courage to drive through central areas, and rarely does he lose possession.
Yves Bissouma might not have been a lot of things, but at his best, he offered progression from the first phase that no one can mimic right now in this Tottenham team. It might require something unusual from Frank, but a different role for the £55 million man might produce major improvement.
To top off the performance, he produced the goods for the team in the final third. The Ghanaian got an assist for Mathys Tel to break the deadlock. He then blazed a shot over the bar on the breakaway after Destiny Udogie chose not to go it alone, but atoned for that moment and wrapped up the points after the break with a low driven effort outside the penalty area. It was an afternoon’s work well done.
Xavi Simons is trying to settle into the structure at Tottenham as Frank focuses on stability and solidity. He has had to be patient for his opportunities, but flashes of his quality are getting clearer.
At times, things will go wrong for creative minded players, and the display from the Dutchman was by no means perfect. If the result had not gone in favour of the guests, many would look back to his failed rabona to release Cristian Romero or Wilson Odobert as a flashpoint early in the second half.
But by the same token, top tens will see pictures that no one else can imagine on the pitch. Twice, he set away fullbacks with creative chipped passes into the penalty area when no danger seemed to be present: unfortunately, neither Destiny Udogie nor Pedro Porro could apply the finishing touch.
The £51 million man also seems to benefit more from getting the ball in the final third to do damage rather than having to try and force the game forwards himself. So, there is even more food for thought about what Spurs would look like if they got Xavi and Kudus contributing together in central areas.
That is a risk that Frank could take with time once he is happier with the tactical framework of the team. But it is clear that Simons looks special much more when he leaves the left and lives in the 10.
- Romero’s resilience leads the way
Like Kudus, Cristian Romero was not a starter for the trip to Norway in midweek. Frank decided not to take a risk with the fitness of the Argentine, leaving him out of the matchday squad as a precaution.
The attackers will get a lot of the plaudits in this performance, but the club captain continues to excel.
The absence of his progressive passing and personality in possession made it much easier for Bodo to stifle the buildup of their opponents, which was almost non-existent in central areas. Some of that is systemic, but the team could create more advances centrally with his presence on the ball available.
Most of all, Romero stood out with his defensive work. There were some classic cases of very tough tackling and aggression to take charge of situations where Anton Stach stood free between the lines. When Dominic Calvert-Lewin tried to throw his weight around, the defender stood his ground.
But he blends this attitude with the ability to calmly make adjustments and put out fires, of which there were a good few in the second half. It was another showing that signalled he is much more than the reckless individual that the narrative has suggested, and Romero rightly walked away victorious.
- Tottenham take the spoils on the road
Spurs sit on 14 points, one behind defending champions Liverpool and two off league leading North London rivals Arsenal. The Thomas Frank era has started extremely strongly in terms of results.
But performances have not been the most convincing— especially in terms of fluid possession and chance creation. Stability, set pieces and marginal gains have been the name of the game so far.
Indeed, there has been a drastic difference between form at home and away. Only four of the 14 points collected have been at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where a 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth was the worst showing of the season and a 1-1 last gasp leveller at Wolves would not dampen the disappointment of dropping points to an outfit that had zero points from their first five contests.
On the other hand, Frank’s men are top of the table in terms of points on the road, only dropping points across four fixtures in a 2-2 draw at Brighton, their best display in the Premier League.
The resilience to respond to setbacks has helped them constantly in these situations and the tools are present to make a lot out of a little in terms of genuine chances and dominance of the general play.
Time will tell how long this trend continues, but the transition away from Ange Postecoglou to a man with a more pragmatic approach is reaping the rewards that the board and fans would have wanted.