Spurs Brush Aside Brentford in Dominant Display

Thursday 2nd December 2021

Match Report

Tottenham Hotspur 2 – 0 Brentford

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

Competition: English Premier League

"Pre-Match Thoughts – Big game at home to newly promoted Brentford. A win would really boost morale around the club and help us kick-on under Conte. Despite this being their first season in the top flight since 1947, they've exceeded expectations so far and sit 11th in the table, just 3 points behind us. Conte's expected to start with the same side announced before the Burnley match was postponed. The players should be raring to go following that dreadful defeat in Slovenia, refreshed from not having a game at the weekend, and ready after time on the training ground with Conte – I'm saying 3-1 Spurs."

No surprises as Conte stuck with the same team he'd selected on Sunday before the match was called off.

A good start led to a real chance after just 5 minutes – Reguilón found Kane who drove forward with it before playing into Moura inside the area, his effort was on target but palmed wide for a corner.

In the 12th minute Spurs found a breakthrough – Son played a short corner to Reguilón who laid it back to him. Stood up by an opposing player, Son shifted it onto his left foot and whipped a dangerous cross into the six-yard box. A defender attempted to head it clear but it was blocked by Davies and Canós challenging for it right in front of him, it hit off Canós' head and sailed over the Brentford keeper into the back of the net. 1-0 Tottenham.

Following the opener there was a lull in the game where neither side really got anything going.

Son came closest to finding a second when it opened up for him on the edge of the penalty area and his left-footed shot was destined for the bottom corner but for a good diving save from the Brentford goalkeeper.

"Thoughts at Half-Time – Not bad so far, we've managed to find a breakthrough and haven't really been troubled at the back. Creativity, incisiveness and that final ball have been lacking though. I'd like to see Ndombele on for Moura. Hopefully Conte gets them to step it up a gear and find another goal early in the second half."

It was a strong start to the half as Skipp drove forward with the ball before sliding in Kane, one-on-one he went to put it past the Brentford keeper with a left-footed finish but the goalie had closed the angle well and saved it with his knee.

Moments later Skipp found Kane again, this time the angle was too tight for the shot so he sent it agonisingly across the face of goal, Højbjerg was first to meet it but he was beyond the far post and could only shoot into the side netting.

On the 65 minute mark, Spurs caught Brentford on the counter and found the second goal they deserved – a Sánchez clearance fell to Son who knocked it down to Kane, he looked up and picked out a peach of a pass to set Reguilón bounding off into reams of space down the left wing, he knocked it forward before sliding it across goal where Son met it and tapped into an open net. 2-0.

With 15 to go Moura made way for Winks with Conte seemingly looking to shut up shop.

Inside the last 10 minutes Toney snuck in behind and stretched to squeeze in a shot that Lloris did well to stay sharp and save with his feet at the near post.

Spurs saw the game out and the final whistle blew.

"Thoughts at Full-Time – A comfortable victory in the end in a match we dominated. It was good to see us keep a clean sheet after nullifying their attacking threat throughout the game. We scored two and could have had more. All in all a strong performance from Spurs. Same against Norwich on Sunday please. COYS!"

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 1. Hugo Lloris – 7 – Wasn't tested too often but kept it out when he was. Made some commanding punches and decent saves.

• 6. Davinson Sánchez – 6 – Good to see an improvement after the shambolic performance in Europe last week. Still looked nervy at times but all in all helped keep it tight at the back.

• 15. Eric Dier – 7 – Didn't do a whole lot of note but that's not a bad thing when you're a centre-back. Went about his defensive duties well and bossed it at the back.

• 33. Ben Davies – 8.5 – Excellent performance from Davies who has really come into his own in that left centre-back position as I hoped/predicted in my past article here. He challenged well to force the first goal, won his tackles, was accurate with his passes, and got up on the overlap to bolster attacks.

• 12. Emerson Royal – 6 – Showed some strength down the right side on occasion. Final ball should have been better though and he gave it away a couple of times. Not bad on the whole.

• 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 8 – Stamped his authority in the middle of the park. Won numerous tackles, nicked a good few interceptions and didn't misplace many passes.

• 29. Oliver Skipp – 9 – Relished being back in the side after his suspension and went about working for the team in midfield alongside Højbjerg. Similar performance from the two of them again but Skipp's added driving runs forward and a few killer through balls. An excellent all-round performance.

• 3. Sergio Reguilón – 8 – Pacey up and down the left side. Used as an outlet for the majority of our attacks and it paid off for Son's goal that he assisted superbly.

• 27. Lucas Moura – 6 – Wasn't too involved. Almost scored after just five minutes and nicked-in to win possession a few times but often ran down blind alleys.

• 7. Son Heung-min – 9 – Full of energy, looked to make something happen every time he got on the ball. Found a left-footed cross that led to the opener. Shattered when he came off at the end. Ran his heart out and deserved his goal.

• 10. Harry Kane – 7 – Another improved performance from him but another game without a goal. Big chance at the start of the second half we'd expect to see him score. On the whole he looked strong on the ball with his hold-up play, and picked out some excellent passes including one that led to Son's goal.

Substitutions:

• 27. Lucas Moura <-- 77' --> 8. Harry Winks – 3 – Provoked groans from the crowd as he managed to lose possession twice in the short time he was on the pitch. Time to move on.

• 12. Emerson Royal <-- 83' --> 25. Japhet Tanganga – N/A – Almost found himself in on goal right at the end. Interesting to see if he continues to be used on the right and in the centre.

• 7. Son Heung-min <-- 87' --> 23. Steven Bergwijn – N/A – Didn't have much chance to make an impact.

Man of the Match – 29. Oliver Skipp