TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR  3  (0)  BRENTFORD  2  (1)
Date : –  Wednesday 31st January 2024 Kick off : –  19.30
Competition : –  Premier League Venue : –  Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Crowd : –  61,210
Referee : –  David Coote (Nottinghamshire) Linesmen : – Mr. Tim Wood; Mr. Craig Taylor
Fourth official : – Tony Harrington
VAR official : – Michael Salisbury VAR Assistant : – Steve Meredith
Weather : –  Cloudy, very light drizzle in second half 
Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the Paxton Road end
Playing time : –   90 + 16 minutes

 

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR BRENTFORD
GOAL-SCORERS
    Udogie  47m 26s   Maupay  14m 23s
    Johnson  48m 39s   Toney  66m 08s
    Richarlison  55m 05s   
CARDS
  Kulusevski  (argument with Maupay)  43   Norgaard  (foul on Skipp)  17
  Donley  (foul on Maupay)  90+6   Maupay  (argument with Kulusevski)  43
       Yarmoliuk  (foul on Udogie)  90
 

 

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR BRENTFORD
13.   Guglielmo VICARIO 1.   Mark FLEKKEN
     
23.   Pedro PORRO 22.   Nathan COLLINS  (  20.   Kristoffer AJER  78) 
17.   Cristian ROMERO  (c) 5.   Ethan PINNOCK
37.   Micky van de VEN 6.   Ben MEE
38.   Destiny UDOGIE       
   30.   Mads ROERSLEV  (  10.   Josh DASILVA  78) 
4.   Oliver SKIPP  (  5.   Pierre-Emile HOJBJERG  46)  8.   Mathias JENSEN   (  33.   Yehor YARMOLIUK  57  ) 
30.   Rodrigo BENTANCUR  (  22.   Brennan JOHNSON  46  6.   Christian NORGAARD  (c)  
22.   Vitaly JANELT  (  26.   Shandon BAPTISTE  88) 
21.   Dejan KULUSEVSKI  23.   Keane LEWIS-POTTER  (  24.   Mikkel DAMSGAARD  88) 
10.   James MADDISON  (  6.   Radu DRAGUSIN  88)       
16.   Timo WERNER     (  63.   Jamie DONLEY  90+2  7.   Neal MAUPAY    
   17.   Ivan TONEY 
9.   RICHARLISON      
Substitutes Substitutes
20.   Fraser FORSTER 21.   Thomas STRAKOSHA
12.   Emerson ROYAL 13.   Mathias JORGENSEN
33.   Ben DAVIES 38.   Ethan BRIERLEY
44.   Dane SCARLETT 43.   Benjamin FREDRICK
11.   Bryan GIL     

    = Assist        =  Goal scored       =  Own goal scored

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

 

MATCH REPORT
It only took Spurs eight minutes to beat Brentford, with a stunning three goals spell just after half-time and although the Bees were handed a way back into the game at 3-2, they were unable to squeeze a point out of the match as they lumped high ball after high ball into the box.

Much was made of the return of Ivan Toney after his gambling ban, along with the first start in months for James Maddison and in the end, it was the Tottenham man who had the greater influence on the game, although much credit for the win must go to Ange Postecoglou for the tactical switch he made at the break that saw him come out on top of the supposed tactical genius that is Thomas Frank.

Three fouls by Ivan Toney looked as though he was odds on for a yellow card, but you wouldn’t bet on it with this ref.  Maupay went marauding around trying to find a new victim now that his previous favourite Eric Dier wasn’t there as Frank had appeared to have told his players to rile Spurs.  It worked with a few flare-ups that would have been settled without the intervention of the referee.

Maddison’s influence came to the fore straight from the kick-off.  His passes to Timo Werner and Dejan Kulusevski created chances, with Werner straying offside initially, while Oliver Skipp profited from the Swede’s pass and had a shot blocked.  Werner was looking sharp on the left, but couldn’t find a final ball that hurt Brentford, who were sitting deep and looking to hit us on the break.  It was ten minutes into the match that they had their first break, with Maupay getting through the defence before Skipp tracked back to take the ball of him and then get fouled.  Within two minutes, Roerslev burst through and with a shot that beat Vicario, he found the back of the net.  However, it looked as though he was well offside when the move built and it took two minutes of faffing about for VAR to come to what seemed like an obvious decision to disallow the goal. 

It only put the misery off for a couple of minutes, as Destiny Udogie got had the ball taken off him and Toney was in on goal in the right side of the penalty area.  HIs shot brought a fine stop by Guglielmo, but the ball came out and Maupay mis-kicked it into the goal from close range to give Brentford an unlikely lead. 

It was possibly the worst thing that could have happened in the match as it was the cue for the West Londoners sitting deep behind the ball and wasting as much time as possible.  Norgaard was booked soon after the re-start for a wicked foul on Skipp as Spurs made ground going forward.  Porro brought a save out of Flekken and then the goalkeeper made a mess of a save to Werner’s low shot, after Bentancur pulled the ball back to him, just managing to squirm the ball wide of the goal.  Some crisp passing was opening up the Brentford defence and Maddison’s ball to Kulusevski was quickly moved on to Richarlison, who curled a shot just wide. 

Teams are getting wise to us playing the ball out from the back and try and close us down in our defensive third, which led to some frustration from sections of the Spurs crowd, who do not appreciate what can be achieved when it works.  It didn’t stop Spurs working chances and a ball into the box brought a scramble that Richarlison got on the end of and dinked the ball over Flekken, but it was disallowed for a foul on Collins, although people said that videos of the incident showed that Collins went down without being touched.  It wasn’t long before there was a bust-up between Kulusevski and surprise, surprise Maupay brought yellow cards for both of them as they faced up to each other.

Just before we went into added time at the end of the first half a Brentford free-kick was played in and with Spurs playing a high line, Toney got in for a free-header, but while it was powerful, it was to close to Vicario, who pushed it well wide.  While spurs had dominated possession, it was a bit like Friday night’s match against Mancashter City, with not a lot to show for having a lot of the ball.

It was at the break that Ange brought on Brennan Johnson and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.  Bentancur, who had given the ball away cheaply a few times and Oliver Skipp, who had been playing well were the ones to make way, as an attacking line-up watched Brentford kick off.  The change from a battle to open up the opposition in the first half to the way we approached the second could not be more marked.  One minute and 27 seconds into the second half, we were level.  Destiny picked up the ball halfway inside his own half and set off on a run that took him to just past the centre-circle in their half before he released a pass to Timo Werner outside him on the left.  He shaped to go wide before cutting back to beat Roerslev and Collins to slip the ball square inside to Udogie, who had continued his run.  He took a touch to control the ball, Norgaard couldn’t challenge as it would have been a penalty and Pinnock threw himself in front of the ball, but his touch only diverted the ball back in front of Udogie, who slid the ball in with his left foot from five yards out and wide of the goal.  Flekken had already sold himself by going the other way and was slow to recover his position, so Destiny could slide the ball between him and the near post.  It was a stunning start to the second half and at that point, it looked as though the Brentford players had the wind knocked out of them.

If it wasn’t at that point, 73 seconds later, it certainly was.  From the kick off Flekken had the ball played back to him before launching it upfield.  Micky van de Ven won the header, with Kulusevski getting the ball level with the edge of the centre circle in our half and he sent a beautiful pass through to Werner, who had space on the left wing.  As he raced away Pinnock went with him, until Timo slowed his run at the edge of the penalty area and the defender also slowed to put his arms behind his back.  That allowed the German to move the ball forward again and with Johnson dropping off behind Mee at the far post, a low ball across the face of goal was perfect for Brennan to run in and slot into an empty net.  The ball was past Maddison and Flekken before they collided, but Brentford’s players wanted the goal ruled out as the keeper had to have a long spell of treatment.  It wasn’t and Tottenham were ahead.

The whirlwind continued, as the energetic pressing put Brentford under pressure that they were unable to handle.  In the 53rd minute, Richarlison tried a fierce shot but it was always rising over the bar, but he wasn’t to be denied when he got on the score-sheet three minutes later.  Pedro Porro played the ball inside to Hojbjerg, who passed on to Udogie.  His run was unchallenged and he played Maddison into the box ahead of him, with the midfielder cutting back inside Pinnock, who then blocked his shot (which was going wide of the near post) with the ball running to the right where Richarlison was in the middle of the goal to shoot low through Mee’s legs on the goal-line to make it 3-1.  The intensity that Tottenham had started the second half just blew Brentford away and their players looked exhausted.  For Richarlison, who had worked hard without little reward, it was his seventh goal in seven league games and with Sonny missing at the Asian Games, his goal-scoring run has come at a very useful time.

Brentford reacted with Toney firing a rocket of a shot that flew across goal and wide of the far post, then he wasn’t able to get a decent shot on goal, as Spurs got players around him, somehow sending the ball well wide with a mis-hit.  His travails were replayed back to him when the Spurs fans chanted “Ivan Toney, You should have cashed out !”  He got a little of his own back when Destiny was put under pressure and off balance, played a ball back towards his own goal, but straight to Toney who would have been 20 yards offside if one of his own players had done so.  It left him the opportunity to take it on and drill a shot across Vicario from the right to narrow the score-line.

With a bit of a lift, Brentford started to hurry their restarts; a far cry form the first half when they were a goal ahead and the referee did nothing to stop them taking a minute to take each free-kick.  Spurs were trying to control the play but when they looked to get into the final third, the ball was picked off and that gave the visitors the opportunity to try to move forward on the Spurs goal.  After Maddison went down with cramp with five minutes left, he was replaced shortly after by Radu Dragusin to shore up the aerial threat that the Bees were going to pose with winger Dasilva brought on and 6′ 6″ defender turned forward Ajer thrown in to add some height.  Baptiste and Damsgaard were also brought on as they looked to push on in the remaining two minutes plus added time.  Their cynical tactics brought a booking for another sub Yarmoliuk for a crude challenge on Udogie and after Richarlison had brought a routine stop out of Flekken with a low shot, Brentford won a corner when Vicario pushed a volley from Baptiste over the bar, when he could have put it anywhere where the keeper wasn’t. 

Jamie Donley came on for the last few minutes and picked up a booking for pulling back Maupay as he looked to start a move out of defence,. but then the Spurs youngster did well to hold the ball and draw a foul to take the pressure off our goal.  A late corner in the eighth minute of added time brought their keeper up for it, but when the ball was headed out, the whistle went and the three points were ours.

There are ways of winning and losing games and with the desperate position that Brentford have got themselves into, they are reduced to snide tactics, time-wasting and the football of the 1980s pinging long high balls forward to try and extricate themselves form their lowly position.  They were much praised for the way they played in the last few seasons, but this style will not win many plaudits.

Just how Norgaard manged to stay on the pitch is a mystery.  Booked in the seventeen minute, he then went on to commit a series of fouls, including a pull back on a Spurs player that Donley was booked for and and elbow to Udogie’s head, without receiving a second yellow.  In fact, referee Coote had an appalling game, stopping play at regular intervals to talk at length with players and lacking the ability to let play flow.  He’s another ref who wants free-kicks taken from the exact place, but allows yards to be stolen at throw-ons.  His lack of consistency in decision making was quite obvious and one of his talks with Maddison was about this, as it was being pointed out to him that he was dealing with the same offences in different ways.

Tottenham weathered the storm well with the defence dealing with the crosses into the box and the midfield worked hard to gain possession, with Udogie instrumental in all the goals in the match, but more importantly the three that we scored.  People were slating him for the back-pass that allowed Toney to score, but maybe they weren’t around when Danny Thomas failed to score from the spot against Anderlecht in the UEFA Cup Final at the Lane.  The support that he received as he walked back to the centre circle was sorely missing from the noises coming from some fans tonight.  But the side showed in that short period after half-time that they can take the game away from the other side in just a few minutes.  You could see the Brentford players running in treacle, unable to live with the pace at which we were playing the game.  Ange’s move of dropping Maddison a little deeper to fins more space while pushing Kulusevski and Johnson further up, produced a game changing moment.

This result meant that Brentford have lost 23 points from winning positions in the league – the most of any club and therefore, when you look at the table you can see why they are flirting with the relegation zone.  To be honest, their play was overly aggressive and reliant on thumping balls forward for Toney to try and win, but he was well marshalled by Cristian Romero.  Ange is adamant that we will play our game regardless and the fans need to be aware of that and get used to it.  Scarcely has a manager changed the feel of a club in such a short time, but he will readily admit that there is still a long way to go, but the way we are going, it is definitely in the right direction.

The Heathrow Spur   

 

MATCH NOTES
  • Tottenham score in their 34th consecutive Premier League game.

 

OTHER RESULTS
Aston Villa 1 Newcash United 3
Crystal Palace 3 Sheffield United 2
Fulham 0 Everton 0
Luton Town 4 Brighton & Hove Albion 0
Nottingham Forest 1 Woolwich Wanderers 2
Liverpool 4 Chelsea 1
Mancashter City 3 Burnley 1
West Ham United London 1 AFC Bournemouth 1
Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 Mancashter United 4


Premier League Table 2023-24

Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Points Goal difference
1 Liverpool 22 15 6 1 51 19 51 +32
2 Woolwich Wanderers 21 14 4 3 51 24 46 +27
3 Mancashter City 22 14 4 4 44 21 46 +23
4 Tottenham Hotspur 22 13 4 5 47 33 43 +15
5 Aston Villa 22 13 4 5 44 30 43 +14
6 West Ham United London 22 10 6 6 36 33 36 +3
7 Mancashter United 22 11 2 9 28 32 35 -4
8 Newcash United 22 10 2 10 44 33
32 +11
9 Brighton & Hove Albion 22 8 8 6 38 37 32 +1
10 Chelsea 22 9 4 9 36 35 31 +1
11 Wolverhampton Wanderers 22 8 5 9 33 35 29 -2
12 AFC Bournemouth 21 7 5 9 29 40 26 -11
13 Fulham 22 7 4 11 28 36 25 -8
14 Crystal Palace 22 6 6 10 25 36 24 -11
15 Brentford 21 6 4 11 31 36 22 -5
16 Nottingham Forest 22 5 5 12 27 40 20 -13
17 Luton Town 21 5 4 12 28 38 19 -10
18 Everton 22 8 4
10 24 28 18* -4
19 Burnley 22 3 3 16 22 45 12 -23
20 Sheffield United 22 2 4 16 19 54 10 -35

*  Deducted 10 points