Brentford 2-2 Tottenham_goals and highlights
Sam Dalling was at the Gtech Community Stadium for us, so I’ll leave you with his report. Ta-ra!Harry Kane and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg lead Spurs fightback against Brentford
Until the Kane goal I think there was only one team on the pitch. They threatened when it was 2-2, but over the 90 minutes I think we deserved the win. It’s a very good performance and we’re disappointed [not to win].
Set-pieces are important. I think we are better than most teams. I would love to go more toe to toe against [teams like Spurs] but first and foremost I want to win. It’s not bad to play five top-six teams and lose only one, to Arsenal.
We said we needed to do three things to win the game: stop Kane, which we almost managed, win the transitions and then win the set-piece battle.
Ivan Toney’s verdict
We shouldn’t have given them a sniff to get back in the game but they’ve got the quality and it was a great header from Harry. In the end a draw was probably a fair result.
It was painful not getting picked in the [England World Cup] squad but that’s life. The more you dwell on it, the more it’s gonna hurt you. Just leave it behind and keep looking forward.
There are four 3pm games in the Premier League, and Simon Burnton is following them.
That was a pretty entertaining game, and the result feels about right. Vitaly Janelt and the superb Ivan Toney gave Brentford a deserved 2-0 lead early in the second half, but Harry Kane’s fine header sparked Spurs into life and they created enough chances in the last half hour to win the game. In the end, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s equaliser was all they could manage.
Full time: Brentford 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur
The Premier League’s back, baby.
90+6 min Brentford are hanging on. Kulusevski fires a pass into Son, just outside the area to the right of centre. He shifts the ball onto his left foot and crunches a low shot that is well saved by Raya, diving low to his right.
90+5 min Lenglet is replaced by Ben Davies.
90+3 min Son’s corner is cleared at the near post. Lenglet has gone down holding his face after wearing a stray elbow. There’s a line of blood trickling down his forehead, so he will need treatment. The Brentford players aren’t happy that the physios are attending to Lenglet on the field rather than off it.
90+3 min Hojbjerg’s cross is headed behind by Zanka for a Spurs corner…
90+2 min Kane threads a neat pass through to Kulusevski, who rides Mee’s tackle on the edge of the area and cuts the ball back towards the penalty spot. There’s nobody there for Spurs and a Brentford defender has time to boot it clear.
90+2 min Dier hoofs a cross straight out of play. Antonio Conte turns on his heels in disgust.
90+1 min There will be five minutes of added time.
90 min “I agree that VAR can be frustrating and inconsistent,” says Joe Pearson, “but if you’re a fan of a team that plays a high defensive line and relies on the offside trap, VAR is often your friend. Yes, I am a Liverpool supporter.”
I thought you were going to say Saudi Arabia.
89 min A draw would probably be a fair result. Brentford were better for an hour but Spurs have been terrific since belatedly waking up.
88 min Perisic’s corner goes straight into the welcoming embrace of Raya.
87 min Hojbjerg’s long-range shot deflects behind for another corner. Spurs look the likelier winners, but then so did England against Romania in 1998, Brian.
86 min “Both teams embarrassing themselves with these dives and surrounding the ref,” says Filip Gieldon. “Don’t understand why he is allowing it, one player even put his hands on the ref’s shoulders. There should be retroactive bans for players who cheat this blatantly.”
It was the same at the World Cup. The entitlement is really tedious, isn’t it.
85 min: Chance for Toney! And now an excellent chance for Brentford. Dasilva’s deep cross was headed back across goal by Roerslev, and Toney stabbed a volley over the bar from six yards. He was probably put off by Forster, who was flying towards him, but it was still a really good opportunity.
84 min: Kane hits the bar! Spurs were so close to completing the comeback. Lenglet, the left-sided centre-back, was again the creator with a beautiful cross from deep on the left. Kane got across the keeper Raya at the near post and flicked a header off the face of the crossbar.
84 min “How on earth was that not a penalty for the foul on Doherty?” says Richard Coopey. “Not hard to see why people think VAR is rubbish when goals are disallowed for an offside toenail but a clear foul in the box is left unpunished.”
The argument would be that it wasn’t a clear foul – there was contact, certainly, but was it enough to knock Doherty off his feet? I don’t think you can say it was a clear and obvious error. Equally, had it been given I don’t think it would have been overturned by VAR.
That said, VAR in the bin at your earliest convenience please Fifa.
83 min A sweet long-range strike from Sanchez is held by Raya. He caught it beautifully but it was straight at the keeper.
82 min: Double substitution for Brentford Josh Dasilva and Yoane Wissa replace Norgaard and Mbeumo.
80 min “I agree that Kane’s overall performances in Qatar were better than in Russia (despite the goals – his hat trick in Russia must be the least glorious in World Cup history),” says David Wall. “But i don’t think he was the best centre forward. Sure, he wasn’t fully fit in the final, but otherwise Giroud was excellent throughout for France (plus he got some goals). And Alvarez was similarly excellent for Argentina, his running being crucial to how they wanted to play.”
I suppose it’s just personal taste. I thought Kane was more creative and influential than Giroud and Alvarez, but I appreciate the argument for both.
79 min Perisic’s flat cross is headed wide by the late arriving Doherty. He was under pressure but it was still a decent chance. Perisic and Doherty have run riot in the last 10-15 minutes.
78 min Kane misses an acrobatic effort after good play from the wing-backs Perisic and Doherty. Perisic then appeals for handball against a Brentford defender, but VAR aren’t interested.
76 min “It’s not important but was there any mention of why Lloris is on the bench?” says Joe Balfour. “Was Conte perhaps trying to boost Harry’s confidence by making him lead the team out? Either way, it’s worked.”
I think he only resumed training yesterday and Conte decided to give him a bit more time to get over the final.
75 min Now Mbeumo is booked for diving! He ran onto a long pass, went past Forster and then went over. Replays confirm it was a risible dive.
74 min Doherty goes down in the area after a challenge from Zanka, and the two players square up to each other. There was a bit of contact, but Doherty certainly made the most of it. Zanka shoved Doherty in the face and might have been booked.
73 min Son’s cross is headed over by Kane, who had to stoop away from goal to meet the dipping ball. It was an imaginative effort but he had no realistic chance of scoring.
Kulusevski combined nicely with Doherty before sliding a cutback that deflected off Mee and into the path of Hojbjerg, 12 yards out. He took a touch and calmly sidefooted the ball into the far corner.
watch video here
