Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou was delighted with their “resilience” for victory at Luton Town.
Van de Ven proved the matchwinner as Yves Bissouma was sent off in the 1-0 triumph.
Postecoglou said: “A lot of character and resilience, which the team has showed a lot in the previous games before today. We started really well, should have been three or four up, but then you get the red card and it is a different type of game.
“I thought we held it together really well. They had some opportunities, we had a few of our own. In the end we get three points at a difficult place to go.
I don’t think it is fair to compare to last season, and speak about what happened then. It is all credit to the players, the way they have bought into what we are trying to do.
“We are really tight as a group, which you see because not only are we winning games but apart from the football which has been good, the resilience we have shown has been great.
“The players want to change the destiny of this football club and that is what they are trying to do on the pitch.
On the half time change after the red card, the manager added: “I thought we needed a little more control. Pierre [Hoijberg] is an experienced player in the middle, and I thought we would still be a threat with Deki [Kulusevski] and Sonny up front.
“They put some balls in the box that we had to deal with, but he [Hoijberg] was excellent in there keeping the ball away from our goal.”
