Bryan Mbeumo scored his fourth purpose of the Premier League season as Brentford misplaced 3-1 to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
Mbeumo volleyed the Bees in entrance contained in the opening 30 seconds, however the hosts hit again earlier than half-time by means of Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson. Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was lucky to keep away from punishment for dealing with the ball outdoors of his field shortly earlier than the hour mark, earlier than James Maddison prolonged his aspect’s lead late on.
Thomas Frank made two adjustments to the aspect that lined up towards Manchester Metropolis final weekend.
Christian Nørgaard – who the Bees boss revealed is nursing “a minor damage” – and Yoane Wissa (ankle) made approach for Yehor Yarmoliuk and Fábio Carvalho.
Simply as they did on the Etihad, Brentford got here flying out the traps and stung Spurs with simply 22 seconds on the clock.
The ball was performed to Keane Lewis-Potter on the left, who dropped a shoulder to beat Pedro Porro and floated a cross in direction of the entrance publish. Mbeumo peeled away from the group and thumped a volley past the helpless Vicario.
Undeterred, Spurs instantly went searching for an equaliser. Rodrigo Bentancur’s strike from the sting of the world deflected vast and Cristian Romero’s looping header from the ensuing nook was held by Mark Flekken.
Solanke then pounced on Sepp van den Berg’s heavy contact, superior down the left and labored the ball inside to Heung-min Son. The Tottenham captain discovered Maddison contained in the six-yard field and his shot was bravely blocked by Ethan Pinnock.
However Tottenham have been stage moments later. Pinnock’s unfastened move was intercepted by Maddison, whose preliminary effort from the sting of the field was parried by Flekken, and Solanke adopted in and tucked dwelling on the rebound.
The sport continued at tempo: Son’s dipping effort was saved by Flekken and Johnson, discovered by Dejan Kulusevski, dragged throughout the face of purpose and vast from 20 yards.
Udogie’s low cross from the left led to pinball within the Brentford space, with Pinnock finally hacking to security.
On the different finish, Lewis-Potter minimize on to his proper foot and went for purpose, however his low drive from distance lacked the ability to hassle Vicario.
On 26 minutes, Solanke dropped deep and lifted the ball over the Brentford backline. Son raced clear and rounded Flekken however, crowded by the Bees’ recovering defenders, opted to tee up Kulusevski and his strike was charged down by Yarmoliuk.
However Spurs’ stress was rewarded. Johnson, launched by Son, superior down the proper of the world, opened up the angle underneath stress from Nathan Collins with a intelligent feint and drilled arduous and low into the far nook.
Simply after the half-hour mark, Maddison crossed low from the byline and Lewis-Potter cleared with Solanke seeking to pounce.
Brentford have been then virtually gifted a second purpose. Vicario was dispossessed by Carvalho inside his personal six-yard field, who rolled the ball again to Mbeumo, however the ahead’s shot was straight on the keeper.
Carvalho virtually turned supplier once more moments later, intercepting Maddison’s move and shifting to Damsgaard on his left, however the Dane’s effort from simply outdoors the field lacked conviction and was held by Vicario.
Maddison’s cross-shot was pushed away by Flekken within the last motion of a frenetic first half.
5 minutes after the break, Flekken dropped low to his proper to disclaim Kulusevski following some neat interaction on the sting of Brentford’s field involving Maddison and Udogie.
Then got here a second of actual controversy. Vicario superior a good distance off his line to assert a cross however, underneath stress from Damsgaard, failed to assemble.
The Spurs keeper then dealt with the ball outdoors of his space, taking the ball away from Damsgaard and denying him the chance to strike at purpose, however the referee allowed play to proceed and Kristoffer Ajer and Thomas Frank have been each booked for his or her protests.
The edges then exchanged large probabilities: Mbeumo latched on to Ajer’s by means of ball and noticed a venomous effort nicely saved by Vicario earlier than Johnson pulled vast having been discovered by Son.
Substitute Kevin Schade virtually made a right away affect. After a spell of possession across the hosts’ field, van den Berg looped in a cross from the byline, Schade beautifully headed in direction of purpose and the ball was clawed away by the keeper.
Because the Bees appeared to push on within the last minutes, Spurs prolonged their benefit.
Romero started a blistering counter assault on the sting of his personal field, Son slipped the ball by means of to Maddison and the midfielder lifted over the advancing Flekken and into the online.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario; Porro (Grey 88), Romero, van den Ven, Udogie; Kulusevski, Bentancur (Bissouma 63), Maddison (Bergvall 88); Johnson (Sarr 70), Solanke (Moore 88), Son
Subs not used: Forster, Spence, Drăgușin, Werner
Brentford: Flekken; van den Berg, Pinnock, Collins; Ajer (Roerslev 79), Janelt, Yarmoliuk (Schade 63), Damsgaard (Konak 79), Lewis-Potter; Carvalho (Trevitt 88), Mbeumo
Subs not used: Valdimarsson, Mee, Meghoma, Ji-soo, Yogane
Attendance: 61,246
Frank focuses on positives
Head coach Thomas Frank was filled with reward for his gamers regardless of Saturday’s loss in north London – however admitted the Bees’ struggled after taking an early lead.
“There are lots of positives and in addition some issues we have to do higher towards a great Tottenham aspect,” he mentioned.
“The primary 28 minutes, apart from the primary minute after we scored, they have been on prime and we struggled with their depth and stress; the final 60 we did nicely and made it very troublesome for Tottenham.
“However they’ve a stand that’s greater than our stadium, and that must be put into perspective.
“We attempt to win each sport, we concern nobody and I just like the bravery from my gamers, however we have to carry out over 90 minutes.”
Janelt attracts parallels with Man Metropolis defeat
Midfielder Vitaly Janelt had a way of “déjà vu” after Brentford’s defeat at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Bees, like they did towards Manchester Metropolis final weekend, took the lead contained in the opening 30 seconds however have been pegged again earlier than the break.
“We began nicely however then conceded two targets from our errors,” he mentioned.
“The second half was fairly good – we had two or three good probabilities to attain an equaliser – however they scored late from a transition.
“Typically, we performed a good away sport. Tottenham are a great aspect, they usually took their probabilities.”