Vitaly Janelt’s own-goal and Pape Matar Sarr’s strike fired Tottenham to a first Premier League away win at Brentford in a dominant 2-0 display at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Janelt helplessly deflected Son Heung-min’s corner into his own goal to open the scoring for Spurs in the 29th minute.
Tottenham eventually wrapped up the win with a 87th minute strike from Sarr who pounced on Son’s forward pass into the box.
The result left Brentford sat 11th in the table whilst Tottenham climbed up to 14th but West Ham are in action at Chelsea tomorrow night (3 February).
“It feels like we missed an opportunity to get three points,” commented Brentford Head Coach, Thomas Frank as he bemused their failure to get back into the game.
“In many ways, it was a good performance, without it being a through-the-roof performance – we created so many opportunities and good situations without having enough cutting edge to create five or six 100 per cent chances.
“We created more than enough to score at least one goal, and then it would have been a different game – that’s frustrating because it’s such small things that decide a match.
Having drawn all three previous Premier League visits to Brentford and sat 16th in the table at kick-off amidst scrutiny from their own fans, Tottenham made a bright start but lacked much quality as Richarlison fired wide in the sixth minute.
Neither team though brought much quality amongst stubborn defensive blocks until Brentford’s Yoane Wissa nodded over from Mikkel Damsgaard’s 23rd minute cross, before Antonin Kinsky saved Bryan Mbeumo’s shot just four minutes later as the hosts began to crank up the pressure.
Spurs however punished both wasted chances with a scrappy opening goal as a 29th minute corner whipped in by Son luckily flew in off the back of a helpless Vitaly Janelt at the near-left post.
Brentford almost pulled level in the 33rd minute with their first decent response in which Kristoffer Ajer teed up Christian Norgaard, yet the Dane’s shot was comfortably saved by Kinsky as Spurs dug deep to protect their lead into half-time.
Thomas Frank’s Bees continued to try and find an equaliser after half-time but Mbeumo and Kevin Schade saw chances denied, whilst Wissa flicked Schade’s headed pass onto the crossbar from close-range in the 53rd minute.
Tottenham however continued to produce a resilient defensive effort after shifting nine goals in their four league matches across January, whilst Kulusevski fired a shot wide in a rare early second-half attack from the visitors.
Spurs’ resilience ultimately paid off in the 87th minute with a quick-flowing play up the left which found Son, from which the Korea international played Sarr through to roll in under Hakon Valdimarsson to wrap up a first away win in this Premier League fixture and ease pressure on Ange Postecoglou.
What’s Next?
Brentford have a near two-week break due to having exited the FA Cup in the Third Round, meaning that they won’t be back in action until 15 February when they head to London rivals, West Ham, in a 3pm GMT kick-off at London Stadium.
Tottenham though face a cup double-header as they visit Liverpool in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Thursday 6 February (8pm), before heading to Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Sunday 9 February (5:35pm).
Teams
Brentford: Hakon Valdimarsson, Kristoffer Ajer (Kayode 76), Nathan Collins, Sepp van den Berg, Keane Lewis-Potter, Christian Norgaard (Carvalho 84′), Vitaly Janelt (Jensen 66′), Bryan Mbeumo, Mikkel Damsgaard, Kevin Schade, Yoane Wissa
Substitutes: Julian Eyestone, Fabia Carvalho, Mathias Jensen, Michael Kayode, Yunus Konak, Paris Maghoma, Ben Mee, Ethan Pinnock, Yehor Yarmoliuk
Tottenham: Antonin Kinsky, Pedro Porro, Archie Gray, Ben Davies, Djed Spence, Yves Bissouma (Sarr 68′), Rodrigo Bentancur, Dejan Kulusevski, Son Heung-min, Mikey Moore (Bergvall 46′), Richarlison (Scarlett 78′)
Substitutes: Damola Ajayi, Brandon Austin, Lucas Bergvall, Dante Cassanova, Malachi Hardy, Callum Olusesi, Sergio Reguilon, Pape Matar Sarr, Dane Scarlett
Referee – Jarred Gillett
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