Spurs stories | Victor Wanyama - iconic goals, and a mighty midfield with Mousa
Tue 18 February 2025, 16:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Over the course of their careers, footballers would love to provide an iconic moment that lives forever in fans’ hearts. Victor Wanyama has two, and was delighted to reminisce about them again when he made a welcome return to N17 for Sunday’s Premier League win against Manchester United.
After impressive spells at Celtic and Southampton, the all-action midfielder joined us in the summer of 2016. Forging powerhouse partnerships with Mousa Dembele and Eric Dier in the central areas, Victor proved a key component in our best season in the Premier League, his debut campaign of 2016/17, where we finished runners-up on 86 points.
The Kenya international started 35 of our 38 league games, missing just two, as we were beaten just four times all season, with no team lowering our colours in our last season at White Hart Lane. Victor teamed up 21 times with Mousa that season, and from a 1-0 win at Burnley on 18 December through to our 6-1 demolition of Leicester at the KP on 18 May, their record was 10 wins and two draws in 13 matches.
Me and Mousa, we enjoyed what we were doing, we complemented each other very well. You miss those moments...
That memorable season provided Victor’s iconic moment #1 as he headed in the opening goal of the final match at the Lane, a 2-1 win against United on 14 May, 2017. Harry Kane was also on target as we gave our famous old stadium a fitting Finale.
Iconic moment #2 will arguably, over time, be what Victor is remembered for most in a Spurs shirt. That arrived at Anfield on 4 February, 2018, when he hit a thunderbolt from 25 yards that flew into the top corner at the Kop end in 2-2 draw as we vied with the Reds for Champions League qualification. Harry Kane joined the Premier League’s ‘100 Club’ that day and we went on to finish above Jurgen Klopp’s men in third.
Part of a team that finished second, third, fourth and then sixth in his four seasons before moving to a new adventure in the MLS at Montreal, Vic played 97 times for us in all competitions, 47 in that beast of a debut season in 2016/17. He also featured six times in our run to the Champions League Final in 2018/19, including starting the second leg of that semi-final at Ajax. He was still playing in last season’s MLS, starting 12 times, and has racked up 64 caps for Kenya.
Throw in scoring on his home debut at the Lane, the winner against Palace in August, 2016 and scoring one of the first goals at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – a goal after just two minutes of the second Premier League game at our new venue, a 4-0 win against Huddersfield on 13 April, 2019 – and you can see why this popular figure had such a big smile pitchside on Sunday. “To see the stadium once more, remembering the atmosphere, especially at home games, you know, it’s just great to be back, great memories.”
Vic's best goals...
Victor on his partnership with Mousa
“Me and Mousa, we enjoyed what we were doing, we complemented each other very well. You miss those moments. We had a good group, and we always wanted to improve each game. Every weekend when we went out, we wanted to prove to ourselves that we could stay at the top, that’s how it should be be, competing every weekend and making sure the club s at the top. It was fun. The most thing that we had was fun, you know, go out there and have fun and then the rest would just follow. Unfortunately, there was one thing that we would love to do for the club, to win a trophy, but we didn't do it with our group. You know what? I believe this group will do something special one day."
Victor on his goal in the Finale
"That’s a special goal, a special moment in the last game of the Lane. To score in the last game, against a team like United, that was a very big deal for me, closing the stadium with a goal that will always be remembered. It was a proud moment. Also, closing the stadium with a win, that was the big achievement for me. It was a great feeling. To see how the (new) stadium was shaping up, to close the stadium with a win, then we moved to Wembley. It’s such a nice memory."
Victor on his rocket at Anfield
"When I was running towards the ball, I just thought, ‘this is rolling really well, it’s just begging me to hit it’ so I hit first time, and it went into the top corner. It's always coming up when I go on social media, so I click like, put love on it, because it was a special goal. I’ve heard the (Sky Sports) commentary, but I didn’t have an idea it was Gary (Neville, and Martin Tyler). I met Martin Tyler at the airport, he told me, ‘what a goal’, I was really happy about that!”
