Apart from getting their first win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since the opening week of the Premier League, Spurs also ended their month-long winless run with a 2-0 victory vs Brentford.
Thomas Frank welcomed his former employers, Brentford, who are now under the guidance of his former assistant, Keith Andrews. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for him to ease some of the pressure on his shoulders following Spurs’ dreadful performances over the last month, and thankfully, they were able to do just that.
Frank made five changes to his side that played out a late 2-2 draw vs Newcastle midweek, most notably finally starting Xavi Simons for the first time in four games, alongside Archie Gray and Rodrigo Bentancur. Djed Spence was also one of those changes, coming in for Destiny Udogie, who Frank said was injured but not too far away from returning.
First half: Tottenham 2-0 Brentford
The game kicked off with an extra loud cheer for Guglielmo Vicario when his name was read out by the stadium announcer, a reaction clearly shaped by all the noise surrounding him in the past week.
The early exchanges didn’t spark much, but the quiet start actually worked in Tottenham’s favour, as their stability in possession helped them slowly build attacking patterns.
After Micky van de Ven sent a header just over the bar, the usual criticism around Frank’s lack of creativity and Tottenham’s reliance on centre-backs for goals was briefly silenced, because Spurs finally produced a goal that came from a proper bit of build-up play.
A neat move involving a perfectly weighted ball over the top from Pedro Porro sent Xavi Simons charging into space, and he cushioned a simple pass across the six-yard box for Richarlison to tap in from close range.
Randal Kolo Muani, operating from the left, almost added a second soon after, but his header was straight at Caoimhín Kelleher, who reacted sharply to parry it away.
Spurs didn’t have to wait much longer for their next breakthrough though, as Simons turned scorer after he nicked possession off Sepp van den Berg in his own half, drove through the middle with Brentford’s defenders hesitant to bring him down, and finished into the bottom corner for his first Tottenham goal.
Second half: Tottenham 2-0 Brentford
Tottenham were gifted an early chance to make it three when Djed Spence dispossessed Nathan Collins, the last man, and raced through on goal, but Kelleher came out decisively to deny him his first strike of the season.
On the other end, a brilliantly timed tackle from Van de Ven on Igor Thiago inside the box was followed by Cristian Romero soon producing something even better. After Mohammed Kudus lost the ball with an unnecessary bit of showboating, Brentford launched a quick attack from the resulting throw, only for Romero to fly in with a perfectly judged intervention right in front of the goal.
Kudus did put the ball in the net not long after from a tight angle and even had a photographer’s stool prepared for his celebration, but the goal was ruled out as Wilson Odobert had strayed offside in the build-up.
Spurs then somehow failed to grab a third when Spence, whose left foot looked inexplicably sharper in terms of crossing on the day, picked out Pape Sarr completely free in the box. With only Kelleher to beat, Sarr took too long to sort himself out, and when he finally took the shot, the goalkeeper stopped him again in what would be Tottenham’s final meaningful chance.
FT: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2-0 BRENTFORD
Spurs Web man of the match: Xavi Simons
What’s next for Spurs?
This was a much-needed win for Tottenham, who had slipped into the bottom half of the Premier League table due to their inconsistencies lately. The victory lifts them back into the top half, although they could slide down again if Brighton and Manchester United win their games in hand.
The obvious positives were Xavi Simons, as we rightly predicted, getting off the mark with a goal and an assist, and this would be priceless for his confidence. Two other standouts were Djed Spence and Archie Gray, both of whom were excellent at working their way out of tight areas and played important roles in Spurs’ build-up.
Tottenham will hope they carry this momentum into the Champions League midweek, where they host Slavia Prague on Wednesday, also welcoming back club legend Heung-Min Son to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time since his departure.