Tottenham's Frank makes strong case for the defence

LONDON :Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank's predecessor famously said he was not in the business of grinding out 1-0 victories, but times have changed at the north London club.

That is exactly what Tottenham did on Tuesday as Frank's first game in the Champions League ended with a narrow defeat of wily Spanish side Villarreal.

It was not pretty, and Tottenham were almost non-existent as an attacking force after being gifted a fourth-minute own goal by Villarreal's Brazilian keeper Luiz Junior.

But Frank did not care, as his side kept a fourth clean sheet in five games to underline the sense of discipline he has quickly instilled at a club that conceded 65 league goals last season when coming 17th under Ange Postecoglou.

"In any competition it's good to get three points and get a good start. I'm happy with that," the Dane, who replaced Postecoglou in June after the Australian led Tottenham to the Europa League title, told reporters.

"I'm happy with the clean sheet. I'm happy with the defensive side of the game. I think we were extremely good and limited Villarreal to very little throughout the game.

"It was a very even game that we edged in the end. What I like is that our foundation is strong. Now we are four games won, three in the Premier League, one in the Champions League, and we have four (clean) sheets, which is massive."

Tottenham have not exactly been goal-shy either this season, scoring eight in four Premier League games, but they lacked attacking cohesion against a well-drilled Villarreal defence.

Xavi Simons and Mohammed Kudus both began well but faded while Richarlison cut a frustrated figure in attack and late substitute Randal Kolo Muani, given his first appearance since his loan move from Paris St Germain,