Save of the season? It could save Spurs’ season.
With Tottenham on the brink of a first Premier League win of 2026, Antonin Kinsky’s 98th-minute, full-stretch dive to keep out what looked to be an inch-perfect Joao Gomes free-kick was pivotal to their victory at Wolves last weekend.
With relegation rivals Nottingham Forest and West Ham also winning last weekend, Spurs didn’t gain ground. But they did gain confidence and bolstered belief they have reached a turning point and can kick-on to overhaul their two-point gap to safety.
A wonder-save? “I’m happy you say so,” smiles Kinsky modestly, during an exclusive interview with Sky Sports. “It was more also the weight of the moment. Everyone knows it’s important, especially the last minute because then you don’t have time to add another one.”
On the value of the win, he says: “It’s very precious. If we wouldn’t bring three points from there, of course, it would be much more difficult now.
“We are not closer but at least we didn’t get further [away]. So the difference is still just two points.”
The belief within the Spurs squad that they can rescue themselves from this precarious situation with four games to go has been renewed.
“It’s just positive,” says Kinsky, when asked how he sees the relegation battle. “I think if anyone from us would feel different, then there is no point of being within the squad.
“Where it all starts, it’s here. And if you don’t believe it, then you can’t achieve it. So this is the most important thing. OK, do your best to be prepared but, first of all, you need to have the goal and believe it. Otherwise everything is pointless.
“So I believe everyone is like this and I believe this is what’s going to help us a lot.”
Jamie O’Hara weighs up the Premier League relegation battle and what it takes for Spurs to survive.
That attitude has been strengthened by the arrival of new head coach Roberto De Zerbi. The charismatic Italian has had a quick impact on the pitch and across the group, lifting up Kinsky and his team-mates.
“By the way he speaks, what you read and what you hear from him is that he believes in us and that is a big message that he gives us overall: that the quality is there in the squad,” says Kinsky.
“It’s just not to speak about it but to show it. With the combination, with the style that he wants to play, I think our squad fits to that so I believe this is going to work.
“Now we have four points from three games, there is four left and I hope and I believe that this is the right way.”
Kinsky has a calm, focused and positive approach to Spurs’ situation. It is a mindset that also allowed him to overcome a major personal hurdle this season.
Under former boss Igor Tudor, Kinsky endured a brutal Champions League debut at Atletico Madrid. There were two bad individual errors from the Czech goalkeeper and three goals conceded by the time he was hooked after just 17 minutes of the first leg of the last-16 tie.
Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez scores their third goal of the game after another mistake by Spurs’ Antonin Kinsky
Kinsky had been a surprise selection ahead of regular No 1 Guglielmo Vicario, having appeared in just two Carabao Cup ties in the entire season before that match in March.
While Kinsky admits there was plenty of self-reflection on his errors after the game, his performances this month, with Vicario sidelined by a hernia operation, have been notably impressive. He has put his nightmare in Madrid behind him to play an important role in Spurs’ run-in.
“It was a moment, debut in the Champions League, that I was dreaming of as a young boy. For me, this was the thing that I was going for. I was looking forward to it so much,” says Kinsky.
Antonin Kinsky leaves the pitch after being replaced by Guglielmo Vicario early in the first half
“Of course, after the game, I was sad that this happened but on the other hand, I was calm.
“I have good people around me who always give me good feedback, what they really think about it and they are honest with me. So, I spoke to them a lot, I listened to them, then I compared it to my feelings and they were similar.
“So, upon me, it was just to keep going and make sure that when the next opportunity comes, I will be ready again.”
Tim Sherwood admits he is ‘deflated’ despite Spurs’ win at Wolves in their fight to avoid relegation.
Stronger for the experience?
“Yeah, I would say I’m stronger by that one experience.
“It’s not like before I would feel weak, now I feel stronger because I made [that experience]. You make it because you are strong already and it makes you just stronger and it helps you just to grow.
“There is always so much things to improve, so it just shows you the things that you can get better at or mentally to adjust a little bit the approach towards the game.”
With time running out this season, Spurs must learn their lessons quickly. But the resilience of their goalkeeper Kinsky is a good inspiration for the challenges ahead, which will decide their Premier League status.
