TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
3 BRENTFORD
1
   
(2) (1)
  Date : –  Saturday 21st September 2024
Kick off : –  15.00
  Competition : – Premier League
Venue : –   Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
  Crowd : –  61,246
  Referee : –  John Brooks (Leicestershire & Rutland) Linesmen : – Mr. Simon Bennett; Mr. Dan Robathan
  Fourth official : – Oli Langford
  VAR official : – Alex Chilowicz VAR Assistant : – Darren Cann
  Weather : –  Sunny, warm
  Brentford kicked off the first half attacking the Park Lane end
  Playing time : –   90 + 10 minutes

 

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR BRENTFORD
GOAL-SCORERS
      Solanke  07m 29s   Mbuemo  00m 23s  (asst. Lewis-Potter)
      Johnson  27m 11s  (asst. Son)   
      Maddison  84m 34s  (asst. Son)   
  CARDS
    van de Ven  (foul on Ajer)  39   Ajer (dissent)  58
    Bissouma  (foul on Damsgaard)  66   Frank (dissent)  59
    Maddison  (taking shirt off)  86     
   
TEAM
1.   Guglielmo VICARIO 1.   Mark FLEKKEN
     
23.   Pedro PORRO  (  14.   Archie GRAY  88)   20.   Kristoffer AJER     (  30.   Mads ROESLEV  79) 
17.   Cristian ROMERO 4.   Sepp van den BERG
37.   Micky van de VEN    5.   Ethan PINNOCK
13.   Destiny UDOGIE 22.   Nathan COLLINS
   23.   Keane LEWIS-POTTER 
21.   Dejan KULUSEVSKI   
30.   Rodrigo BENTANCUR  (  8.   Yves BISSOUMA  63   )   18.   Yehor YARMOLIUK  (  7.   Kevin SCHADE  63) 
10.   James MADDISON        (  15.   Lucas BERGVALL  88)   27.   Vitaly JANELT  (c)
24.   Mikkel DAMSGAARD  (  26.   Yunus KONAK  79)  
22.   Brennan JOHNSON    (  29.   Pape Matar SARR  70)    
19.   Dominic SOLANKE    (  47.   Mikey MOORE  88)   14.   Fabio CARVALHO  (  28.   Ryan TREVITT  87) 
7.   Heung-Min SON  (c)    19.   Bryan MBUEMO 
 
Substitutes Substitutes
  20.   Fraser FORSTER 12.   Hakon Rafn VALDIMARSSON
  24.   Djed SPENCE 16.   Ben MEE
  6.   Radu DRAGUSIN 21.   Jayden MEGOMA
  16.   Timo WERNER 36.   Kim JI-SOO
      42.
  Tony YOGANE

    = Assist        =  Goal scored       =  Own goal scored

Manager : – Ange Postecoglou Manager : –  Thomas Frank   
Kit Supplier : – Nike Kit Supplier : –  Umbro
Shirt Sponsor : – AIA Shirt Sponsor : –  Hollywoodbets
Shirt Sleeve Sponsor : –  Kraken Shirt Sleeve Sponsor : – PensionBee
Colours : – Colours : –
Images of kits courtesy of the marvellous Colours of Football website

 

MATCH REPORT
  Letting a goal in after only 23 seconds could have turned the atmosphere very toxic at the THS, but Spurs came back to play a high pressing game which forced Brentford to turn over the ball on numerous occasions, allowing Tottenham to end up with a 3-1 win on a hot afternoon.  And this was an afternoon when the fringe fans who have been active on the Internet were waiting to pounce on any mistake and it was refreshing to see that the majority were behind the team and saw what a positive response to adversity can achieve.

When the ball was played back from the kick off to Flekken, he launched a huge boot upfield and Micky van de Ven won a header.  Dejan Kulusevski tried to get on the ball but it went to Carvalho who spread it wide to Lewis-Potter, who crossed to a point just ahead of the penalty spot and Mbuemo hooked a powerful volley past Vicario.  It was a goal that came one second later than the one the Bees had scored at the Etihad recently and maybe coming so early in the game it produced a better reaction from the Spurs supporters, who immediately got behind the team.

That resulted in a determined press by Tottenham that was to see them win win possession time and time again.  There were chances for Bentancur and Maddison before Maddison moved forward to close down Janelt when Pinnock, who had been injured a moment before, was on the ball.  A loose pass saw James intercept and move past Janelt, who tried to fall into him, but missed.  Inside the area, he hit a low shot that Flekken spilled and Dominic Solanke was on hand to stroke the loose ball into the net from just outside the six yard box for his first goal in our colours.  The keeper’s inability to hold shots was something I had mentioned to my son before the game and I thought that getting shots on target could reap rewards, which proved to be the case.  The response to going behind had taken seven minutes to put right and Brentford didn’t learn from their mistake.

Spurs were moving the ball nicely and Maddison’s lofted pass down the left to Destiny Udogie was then played inside to Heung-Min Son, whose shot was stopped over the head of the keeper and then Kulu played a pass to Brennan Johnson on the corner of the Brentford box and his low shot went a foot wide of the base of the far post in the 11th minute.  The referee, who had a consistently inconsistent game decided that challenging Tottenham players with no intent on getting the ball wasn’t a free-kick, but the slightest touch (or not even one in some cases) that sent the visiting players tumbling was.  Brooks also seemed happy to let Brentford take as long as they liked over any throw or place kick. 

Giving the ball away in their own third Brentford created chances for Solanke and Johnson and then a loose pass in the middle of the pitch saw Spurs break four-on-four, with Udogie putting in a deflected shot that led to a scramble in front of the visiting goal with Kulusevski having a shot blocked before it was hacked away.  It was in the 25th minute that Brentford had their next effort on goal when Lewis-Potter made space on their left to come inside for a low shot that Vicario had covered with a low dive.   Guglielmo was then instrumental in the next Spurs move, with a straight ball out to the halfway line, where Solanke held off his marker and freed Son to run at goal.  He chose not to shoot, but take the ball around Flekken, but Brentford got men back to make him turn and set up Kulusevski for a shot that was blocked.  When the ball was cleared, we worked it to the right and Porro saw the keeper off his line, but his shot from inside our half dropped over the bar.

A loose touch by Porro then gave Brentford the opportunity to switch the ball diagonally to Mbuemo, who was in lots of space in the inside right channel, but his poor control allowed Micky to clear the ball.  A minute later, Maddison cut out a Janelt pass on the Tottenham left, slid it inside to Son and his pass out to Johnson (an in front of him for a change) gave him the chance to take on the lumbering Collins.  From just inside the box, he moved the ball past the defender who had set himself to block a shot and it was just enough room to drill it low past Flekken and into the far side of the goal.  Having been slated by some people over the last couple of games, his late winner at Coventry and a goal here left the fans chanting his name.

The attacks were insistent and all Brentford could do was to get as many players back behind the ball as possible.  All that was missing was the killer ball and when Kulusevski popped up on the left and played a disguised pass outside him for Maddison, it looked like the moment Spurs might make it 3-1.  His low ball back to the near post was aimed at Solanke, but he wasn’t able to squeeze it past the many green shirts around him.  When the ball was played forward, Mbeumo fouled Porro and went down needing lengthy treatment, during which Thomas Frank held a team briefing on the pitch, which meant he was way out of his technical area !  When play got underway, Johnson played in Kulusevski, whose shot was blocked and then, after an age to take a corner, Brentford were only saved by Kulusevski’s pass bouncing over Son’s foot, otherwise he would have been away from van den Berg in the Spurs half of the centre-circle.

Thomas Frank is an angry little man.  He comes across all sweetness and light in interviews, but on the touchline, he likes to mix it with the other bench and when Micky slid in on Ajer, who had gone on a run, Frank started to have a go at the Spurs bench.  Micky got a yellow card, which was fair enough, so what more did they want ?  Brentford’s free-kicks, which they had obviously spent some time on and spent some time over taking were actually pretty awful and in committing all their players to attack them, they would be very open to a counter-attack.  In fact, their next best chance of the half came when van de Ven beat Carvalho to a through pass and knocked it back to Vicario.  Inside his own six-yard box and with few options to play the ball out, he dwelt on it and Carvalho nicked it off him,  The keeper got a hand to the ball as it was at the Brentford midfielder’s feet, but only pushed it to Mbuemo, whose shot he blocked at point-blank range.  He was in action again soon after when Carvalho played the ball to his left for Damsgaard, whose low drive was easily saved by Vicario with a low dive.  Once interested in the Danish winger, it appears Spurs did well to miss out on him, as Damsgaard had a very disappointing match that ended in him being substituted.

Still the chances piled up for Spurs, with Porro firing in a shot that hit Romero in the box and then Maddison’s cross with the outside of his right foot from the left wing left Flekken only able to palm it away and it bounced up beyond the far post, meaning that it wouldn’t come down quickly enough for Brennan to get a shot away before a defender could get in front of him to block it.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with Maddison and Udogie carving out a chance for Kulusevski with some nice one-touch passing, but had Flekken block it with his leg and then Bentancur robbed the ball to make a run into the box, where he was bowled over, but nothing was given and play continued as Solanke had two shots blocked in the goalmouth.  When Johnson and Romero slid in on Damsgaard alongside the side of the penalty area, the ref gave a free-kick, although it looked like it should have been a corner.  As usual, there was a long wait until they took it and Damsgaard’s free-kick was cleared to the other side of the box, where Destiny tried to run the ball out but was pushed over by van den Berg, who lumped a high ball into the box that Vicario came to claim.  He didn’t catch it cleanly and then he to pat it over Damsgaard’s head as he got near the edge of his box and then appeared to handle again outside the area.  Nothing was given and the referee stopped play to book Ajer for his complaints and then went over to book the angry Dane on the side-line, who was berating him, although he said after the match that he didn’t blame the referee for not seeing it.  It looked fairly obvious that Vicario had handled outside his area from up in the East Stand, but then it just typified the referee’s performance of inconsistency and errors.  To add to that, he restarted the match with Romero, who kicked it through to Flekken, but was brought back as Brooks had decided, although not communicated, that it was a Spurs ball because he stopped the game to book Ajer (and he could have booked any of the three players who surrounded him) for dissent.

Still the chances totted up at the Brentford end, as Kulu sent Brennan away on the right, but his first touch took the ball wider than he hoped, so he couldn’t get much power into his shot.  Just after the hour, Brentford had a great chance when Ajer’s ball curled beyond the last Spurs defender for Mbeumo to have a run on goal, but his low shot was kept out by a strong left hand from Vicario and then Spurs moved into attack, with Son through, but held up, so he laid it off for Johnson to shoot low across goal and wide of the far post.  Spurs replaced Bentancur with Bissouma, while Brentford brought on Schade, so were going to look for long balls over to top to utilise his pace, but it was a header from van den Berg’s lobbed ball into the area from the right, but Vicario stretched to scoop the ball out and away from two Brentford players in front of him.  As for Biss, he got booked a couple of minutes after coming on for a late tackle on Damsgaard.

It was confusing as to how the refereeing was being applied during the game, with Solanke persistently fouled by van den Berg, including one where the Brentford defender had him by the neck.  I’m not sure what he would have needed to do to get booked compared to other players in the game.  Brentford players who won fouls in the first half for being touched appeared to be the beneficiaries of Brooks interpretation of the laws of the game, as he changed his view in the second half, with Spurs players being contacted without the award of a free-kick.  And when substitute Konak stood on Udogie’s ankle after the ball had gone, how he didn’t get a yellow card is beyond me.

Maddison took a corner in the South-East corner and it hit a Brentford defender, but didn’t drop to a Spurs player, allowing Flekken to claim it.  Brentford moved the ball forward and it looked dangerous at Schade’s feet until Yves Bissouma made a terrific sliding tackle to win the ball, which fell to Cristian Romero.  He looked up and played a straight pass through the middle of the pitch for Son to run on and pick out a great pass to his left, where James Maddison took it into the area and lifted his shot over the approaching Flekken with his left foot and into the roof of the net to make it 3-1 with five minutes to go.  It was a move we saw a lot last season and Sonny’s two assists in the match were a result of him making the hard passes, whereas he often gave the ball away making simple short passes today.  Unfortunately, Maddison picked up a senseless yellow card for taking off his shirt during his celebration of the goal.  As he gets involved in a lot of backchat with referees, he needs to make sure that his yellow cards don’t top up too soon, with a lot of games to come.

It was Maddison’s last involvement, as he, Solanke and Porro all got a little rest, being replaced by Bergvall, Gray and Mikey Moore, but apart from Vicario having to rush out to the edge of the penalty area to kick the ball away before Schade got there, the game fizzled out until the final whistle.

The match had a shock start for Tottenham, but for Brentford it was Groundhog Day, as they took a very early lead at Mancashter City and ended up losing seven days ago, so for the same thing to happen here shows that once ahead, they find it difficult to stay there.  For Tottenham, James Maddison pulled the strings in midfield and for all his eccentricity, Vicario made two important saves in the second half to keep Spurs ahead.

Brentford might have problems this season.  They are organised as you would expect from a Frank side, but appear to only play one way.  Even when they were behind they were slow and lacked urgency in getting forward.  Having sold Ivan Toney and suffering injuries in attack, they look light up top, while they are unable to successfully play the ball out from the back when pressed, which leads to a build-up of work on their defence and even when they get a lot of shirts behind the ball, it seems quite easy to play through them.  And while Flekken seems to have confidence in his passing, the same cannot be said of his defenders.   They leave so much space that the better teams might enjoy making the most of it, but it their odd tactic of throwing everyone forward for set-pieces without a great deal of pace in their defence to cover any breakaway that is a move that might cost them goals.  Their recruitment of players using statistics and working on the Moneyball theory of buying cheap and developing players to sell high has been successful in the past, but maybe the current crop are still in the development phase, but they appear to be of a lesser quality than in previous years.

A lot of credit must go to Rodrigo Bentancur for the way Spurs won the ball and his intelligence in covering or players who had moved forward, as he started a lot of good moves  with his skill in getting out of tight situations and moving the ball on quickly.  Porro and Udogie won a lot of interceptions to stop any potential Brentford attacks and Kulusevski ran endlessly at the ragged Brentford defence, with Son making intuitive runs and closing down defenders quickly.  Unfortunately, much as in our previous games, our crosses were not finding a target with low balls pulled back behind the white shirts, but it wasn’t vital today with any ball given away was soon handed back to us by the opponents quite quickly.

Stanford Rivers

 

MATCH NOTES
 
  • Dominic Solanke scored his first Tottenham goal.

 

OTHER RESULTS
  West Ham United London 0 Chelsea 3
  Aston Villa 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
  Crystal Palace 0 Mancashter United 0
  Fulham 3 Newcash United 1
  Leicester City 1 Everton 1
  Liverpool 3 AFC Bournemouth 0
  South Coast Big Club 1 Ipswich Town 1
  Nottingham Forest 2 Brighton & Hove Albion 2
  Mancashter City 2 Woolwich Wanderers 2


Premier League Table 2024-25

Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Points Goal difference
1 Mancashter City
5 4 1 0 13 5 13 +8
2 Liverpool 5 4 0 1 10 1 12 +9
3 Aston Villa 5 4 0 1 10 7 12 +3
4 Woolwich Wanderers 5 3 2 0 8 3 11 +5
5 Chelsea 5 3 1 1 11 5 10 +6
6 Newcash United 5 3 1 1 7 6 10 +1
7 Brighton & Hove Albion 5 2 3 0 8 4
9 +4
8 Nottingham Forest 5 2 3 0 6 4 9 +2
9 Fulham 5 2 2 1 7 5 8 +2
10 Tottenham Hotspur 5 2 1 2 9 5 7 +4
11 Mancashter United 5 2 1 2 5 5 7 0
12 Brentford 5 2 0 3 7 9 6 -2
13 AFC Bournemouth 5 1 2 2 5 8 5 -3
14 West Ham United London 5 1 1 3 5 9 4 -4
15 Leicester City 5 0 3 2 6 8 3 -2
16 Crystal Palace 5 0 3 2 4 7 3 -3
17 Ipswich Town 5 0 3 2 3 8 3 -5
18 South Coast Big Club 5 0 1
4 2 9 1 -7
19 Everton 5 0 1 4 5 14 1 -9
20 Wolverhampton Wanderers 5 0 1 4 5 14 1 -9