Micky van de Ven, Adama Traoré and the Longest Runs Leading to a Premier League Assist or Goal

After Micky van de Ven’s astonishing assist in Tottenham’s win over Manchester United at the weekend, we chart the longest carries leading to a goal or assist in a Premier League game.

The clock read 02:26 when Micky van de Ven stepped out of Tottenham’s defence to interrupt Marcus Rashford’s break forward, stop Manchester United’s attack and launch one for his own team.

A couple of touches later, and the Dutch defender had Spurs on the front foot in the opposition’s half. United weren’t terribly out of shape, but this was an opportunity nonetheless, and one that Van de Ven would not pass up.

Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham can – and have – been criticised for slowing moves down too often and not taking their chances to punish opponents when they are transitioning to their defensive shape.

But with Van de Ven on the ball and a gaping hole between right-back Noussair Mazraoui and right-sided centre-back Matthijs de Ligt (below), this time, Spurs took their chance.

Van de Ven powered into that space and in the blink of an eye was inside the United box.

A perfect low ball across the face of goal later, and Brennan Johnson was tapping in for the easiest goal he will ever score.

Just 155 seconds in, Spurs had gone ahead with the most simple and direct of goals.

Van de Ven’s was the kind of run Tottenham fans had grown used to watching when Gareth Bale had worn their colours, with defenders seemingly powerless to stop him, and the Spurs man just going on and on and on. Even the low cross was reminiscent of peak Bale.

The centre-back covered 56.1 metres with the ball in that one run, making it the fifth-longest carry (moving with the ball) leading to an assist on record (since 2015-16) in a Premier League game.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a run like that from a centre-back,” Gary Neville said afterwards on Sky Sports. “A run from – what – 60 yards, driving through the [centre of the] whole pitch.”

Neville either has a very short memory or he missed Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Everton in August because, incredibly, Van de Ven’s Old Trafford run wasn’t even the longest assist-ending carry he has made this season.

Against Everton, Van de Ven intercepted a pass on the edge of his own box and charged 60.4m upfield with the ball before playing Son Heung-min in to score his side’s fourth goal. That was the fourth-longest assist-ending carry on record in the Premier League.

The Longest Assist-Ending Carries in the Premier League

*since 2015-16

1. Adama Traoré – 85.6m, Wolves vs West Ham, April 2021
2. Adama Traoré – 64.5m, Aston Villa vs Sunderland, January 2016
3. Adama Traoré – 62.2m, Wolves vs Aston Villa, November 2019
4. Micky van de Ven – 60.4m, Tottenham vs Everton, August 2024
5. Micky van de Ven – 56.1m, Tottenham vs Man Utd, September 2024
6. Anthony Elanga – 55.8m, Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal, August 2023
7. Morgan Gibbs-White – 53.5m, Nottingham Forest vs Brighton, November 2023
8. Demarai Gray – 51.9m, Leicester City vs Everton, April 2017
9. Timo Werner – 50.8m, Chelsea vs Newcastle, November 2020
10. Danny Rose – 50.4m, Tottenham vs Southampton, December 2016

Three goals have been scored following longer carries by the player who assisted the goal than either of Van de Ven’s efforts and all three have come from the same player: Adama Traoré.

Quite amazingly, the longest assist-ending carry on record measured 85.6m in length – almost 30m longer than Van de Ven’s vs United on Sunday. For that goal, Traoré, now of Fulham, picked the ball up deep inside his own half with his Wolves side trailing West Ham 3-0 in the first half. He charged the length of the pitch all on his own, going down the left wing before crossing perfectly on to the head of Leander Dendoncker to pull Wolves back into the game on the stroke of half-time. Unfortunately for Traoré, his efforts went unrewarded, as Wolves went on to lose the game 3-2.

That assist broke Traoré’s own record, which he had held since 2016 with a 64.5m carry before an assist while playing for Aston Villa. His assist to secure third spot in this list was also for Wolves against Villa, this time in 2019.

Two Nottingham Forest goals occupy positions six and seven – goals assisted by Anthony Elanga and Morgan Gibbs-White in the past two seasons – ahead of Demarai Gray for Leicester City in April 2017.

There are more Spurs connections in this list, with Timo Werner – now of Tottenham – in ninth with an assist for Chelsea in November 2020, and Spurs’ own Danny Rose in at 10.

The Longest Goal-Ending Carries in the Premier League

*since 2015-16

1. Andros Townsend – 78.9m, Crystal Palace vs West Brom, March 2017
2. Gastón Ramírez – 74m, Middlesbrough vs Bournemouth, October 2016
3. Son Heung-min – 72.3m, Tottenham vs Burnley, December 2019
4. Sofiane Boufal – 62.2m, Southampton vs West Brom, October 2017
5. Gabriel Martinelli – 61.6m, Arsenal vs Chelsea, January 2020
6. Phil Foden – 55m, Manchester City vs Brighton, May 2021
7. Eden Hazard – 54.8m, Chelsea vs Arsenal, February 2017
8. Taiwo Awoniyi – 54.7m, Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United, August 2023
9. Jesse Lingard – 51.6m, West Ham vs Wolves, April 2021
10. Jordon Ibe – 51.5m, Liverpool vs West Brom, May 2016

Andros Townsend holds the record for the longest run with the ball before scoring a Premier League goal (since 2015-16), with a magnificent 78.9m effort for Crystal Palace against West Brom in March 2017.

Amazingly, Townsend started the move himself, winning the ball from Jonathan Leko in the left-back position (below) before running the length of the field, turning Gareth McAuley inside out and firing a crisp finish into the net.

Townsend had run so far that he dropped to the floor with barely enough effort to celebrate his sensational goal.

Gastón Ramírez and Son Heung-min have both scored goals preceded by 70m+ carries, but it is the goals in positions eight and nine in this list that are of particular interest – though for different reasons.

Taiwo Awoniyi’s effort for Nottingham Forest in August 2023 was also – like Johnson’s on Sunday – scored at Old Trafford, but at an even earlier stage of that game. Awoniyi found the net after just 88 seconds following his 54.7m run with the ball; Johnson’s goal was the earliest a visiting player had scored a Premier League goal away to Manchester United since Awoniyi’s strike.

Jesse Lingard’s goal in ninth place, meanwhile, was the opening goal in West Ham’s 3-2 win over Wolves in April 2021 – the same game in which Traoré managed his record 85.6m assist–ending carry.

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