Luton’s defence was unlocked, opened up and run ragged by Tottenham, but Spurs’ margin of victory should have been greater than the 1-0 it eventually was.
At least until Sunday when Arsenal and Manchester City meet at Emirates Stadium, Spurs moved top of the Premier League thanks to Micky van de Ven’s winner.
But this was a mixed performance that gave their fans a taste of the good, the bad, and the ugly.
After eight minutes, Richarlison had blazed over from a yard out, had then struck into goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski’s leg from eight yards, and Pedro Porro had burst forward from right-back only to scrape his shot wide of the post.
Tottenham’s litany of well-crafted but hopelessly wasted chances did not stop there.
Soon Son Heung-min worked the space to shoot but arrowed high into the Oak Road Stand, and then Dejan Kulusevski’s effort was tipped wide by a stellar save from Kaminski.
As the ball landed at the feet of Luton’s Marvelous Nakamba just outside the box, 25 minutes into the match, the Spurs fans behind the goal could have been forgiven for fearing they were about to witness the moment their dominant side somehow fell a goal behind.
Luckily for them, Nakamba fired over. But Luton did then have the ball in the net, until VAR ruled it out for an Elijah Adebayo push on Cristian Romero in the build-up.
Tottenham would get the victory they deserved, would rise to the top of the league, but it was about to get worse before it got better.
Yves Bissouma, 10 minutes and 22 seconds after picking up a booking for a foul, was shown a second yellow and sent down the tunnel in first-half stoppage time for a dive.
Referee John Brooks wasn’t having it, and neither was Ange Postecoglou.
The Spurs manager stood, itching his beard and wondering how his side would adapt to the dismissal.
On an afternoon of missed opportunities by his attackers, how fitting it was that centre-back Van de Ven scored the only goal.
From a well-worked short corner, James Maddison twisted, turned, and tucked back for the Dutchman to score his first in Tottenham colours.
Luton grew into the affair after going behind, and while the hosts were not clinical enough to take any of their chances, Postecoglou must address some of the defending that saw the Hatters create such clear openings.
But, first and foremost, he must address the careless finishing that threatened to cost his side valuable points here.
And Bissouma, who misses the match against Fulham after the international break, must be given a stern talking to in the dressing room.
Still, Spurs are top of the league — at least for now.
