Tottenham 3-2 Brentford: Player ratings as Spurs edge thriller to move up to fourth
FROM TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – Three quick-fire goals at the start of the second half helped Tottenham come from behind to beat Brentford.
The Bees took an early lead in north London but were undone by their resurgent hosts after the break before setting up a nervy finish.
Ange Postecoglou’s men have moved above Aston Villa into fourth, while Thomas Frank’s side missed the chance to climb to 12th.
How the game unfolded
Tottenham carved Brentford open a couple of times during the opening exchanges, with Oliver Skipp notably releasing Dejan Kulusevski in beyond the last line, but Mathias Jensen made an excellent recovery challenge to deny his fellow Scandinavian at the last.
A similar scenario unfolded at the other end when Neal Maupay sent Keane Lewis-Potter racing away, but the Frenchman had his pocket picked by Skipp upon receiving the ball again inside the box.
Mads Roerslev had the ball in the net soon after, only to be denied by an offside flag against Jensen earlier in the move.
But with their next attack, Brentford took the lead. Destiny Udogie conceded possession too easily on the halfway line and Ivan Toney broke at pace. His shot was well saved by Guglielmo Vicario, but Maupay was able to convert the rebound.
Spurs sought to level immediately and nearly found an equaliser through a trickling shot from Timo Werner, with Mark Flekken only spotting the danger late to push it past the post. From the resulting corner, Werner headed wide when left unmarked at the back post.
Half of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium thought Richarlison had found the back of the net with a curling strike from range, but the ball instead whistled beyond the upright and bounced back off the stantion.
Brentford frustrated their hosts towards the end of the first half with a series of delayed set pieces – Ethan Pinnock went closest to scoring with an improvised back-heel on the second delivery from a corner.
Spurs thought they had an equalised when Richarlison nipped the ball off Nathan Collins in his own six-yard box and dinked Flekken, but the Brazilian had just clipped the defender’s ankles and the goal was chalked off.
Postecoglou subbed out both of his starting midfielders at the break in order to try and stem the tide, with Brennan Johnson and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg replacing Rodrigo Bentancur and Skipp.
Whatever the Spurs boss said at the break clearly worked as his side equalised within minutes of the restart. Udogie made amends for his error for the opener by scoring at the second attempt following ablock by Pinnock.
With Tottenham’s next attack, they went ahead. Werner was released down the left flank and pulled the ball across for Johnson to tap in at the far post.
A third soon followed for Spurs. Another quick breakaway led to James Maddison having a shot blocked by Pinnock, but the ball fell kindly for Richarlison to tuck away.
Toney flashed a scorching shot past the post from distance which would undoubtedly have beaten Vicario if on target as Brentford looked to claw their way back into the contest.
He went even closer seconds later when Spurs cheaply ceded possession and he was put through by Maupay. After twisting and turning his way past Vicario and Micky van de Ven though, Toney dragged his shot wide.
Toney got his goal with his next attempt. Udogie looked to play the ball back to Vicario but didn’t spot the striker idling behind his goalkeeper, and the England international made no mistake this time with a fine finish.
Brentford had seven minutes of stoppage time to snatch a point back and they nearly pulled level again when Josh Dasilva’s cross was helped on by Shandon Baptiste, but he was denied by a fine upward save from Vicario.
That was as close as the Bees came to a draw and Tottenham held on for the three points.
GK: Guglielmo Vicario – 6/10 – Not much he could have done about Brentford’s goals. Made his fair share of top saves once more.
RB: Pedro Porro – 5/10 – Not the Spaniard’s finest game at either end on the one-year anniversary of his Tottenham signing.
CB: Cristian Romero – 5/10 – Horrendously slow reacting to Maupay’s opener. That seemed to wake him up, however, stepping up to the task after that error.
CB: Micky van de Ven – 6/10 – Tottenham’s most reliable defender on the night, never shying away from duels with Toney.
LB: Destiny Udogie – 5/10 – Scored the goal to kick-start Spurs‘ comeback after half-time, but also gave two away himself. An extremely mixed evening.
CM: Oliver Skipp – 6/10 – Proved to be one of Tottenham’s more effective players in a testing first half but was sacrificed at the break.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur – 5/10 – Sometimes guilty of playing the ball casually. Like Skipp was taken off at half-time.
RM: Dejan Kulusevski – 5/10 – Perked up after half-time but failed to assert himself too often.
AM: James Maddison – 7/10 – Didn’t look entirely fit on his first start since November but put in the hard yards and helped the cause if only by getting his head up to look for others.
LM: Timo Werner – 8/10 – Got into so many dangerous positions in behind and his lack of technique nearly stopped him having a say in the game, but he fixed up after the break to lead the Spurs charge.
CF: Richarlison – 9/10 – Had to feed off of scraps for a lot of the evening but put himself about so well and was deserving of his goal following a selfless performance.
Substitutes
SUB: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (46′ for Skipp) – 6/10 – Broke up play but equally gave it away.
SUB: Brennan Johnson (46′ for Bentancur) – 8/10 – Redemption after a tough run of form lately, scoring the kind of goal Brentford had hoped he would in their colours.
SUB: Radu Dragusin (88′ for Maddison) – N/A
SUB: Jamie Donley (90′ for Werner) – N/A
Subs not used: Fraser Forster (GK), Emerson Royal, Ben Davies, Bryan Gil, Dane Scarlett
Manager
Ange Postecoglou – 6/10 – Tottenham were scintiliating at times but far too inconsistently. Carelessness in possession still needs ironing out.
GK: Mark Flekken – 5/10 – Didn’t inspire confidence but this was hardly his worst performance of an indifferent debut season for Brentford.
CB: Nathan Collins – 5/10 – Confident in bringing the ball out from the back but torn apart on his side for Spurs‘ three goals immediately after the break.
CB: Ethan Pinnock – 6/10 – Blocked a succession of Spurs shots and crosses, but wasn’t helped by the slow reactions of his teammates.
CB: Ben Mee – 6/10 – Like Pinnock did his job well for the most part but it wasn’t to be for his side.
RM: Mads Roerslev – 5/10 – A helping hand going forward but caught out in transition.
CM: Mathias Jensen – 6/10 – Troubled Tottenham with his set pieces. Taken off shortly after Brentford’s collapse.
CM: Christian Norgaard – 4/10 – Somehow got away without a red card despite a succession of cynical fouls, including a clear tug on Johnson on the break while booked.
CM: Vitaly Janelt – 5/10 – Didn’t offer enough going either way.
LM: Keane Lewis-Potter – 7/10 – One of his best performances since signing from Hull in 2022. Broke at speed and did his defensive duties well.
CF: Neal Maupay – 7/10 – The chief s***houser, though got his comeuppance for mocking Maddison’s celebration.
CF: Ivan Toney – 8/10 – The pantomime villain lived up to his billing. Tottenham could only slow him down but not fully muzzle him.
Substitutes
SUB: Yehor Yarmoliuk (57′ for Jensen) – 5/10
SUB: Kristoffer Ajer (78′ for Collins) – 5/10
SUB: Josh Dasilva (78′ for Roerslev) – 6/10
SUB: Mikkel Damsgaard (88′ for Lewis-Potter) – N/A
SUB: Shandon Baptiste (88′ for Janelt) – N/A
Subs not used: Thomas Strakosha (GK), Zanka, Benjamin Fredrick, Ethan Brierley
Manager
Thomas Frank – 6/10 – Brentford fought well outside of a manic period after the break.