Tottenham Hotspur beat Brentford 3-1 in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon and here are our player ratings from the match.
Spurs were looking to improve on a sub-standard performance at Championship side Coventry on Wednesday night in the Carabao Cup third round, which saw them saved by last-gasp goals from Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson. In the Premier League, Ange Postecoglou’s men were looking to get back on track after consecutive losses against Newcastle United and Arsenal despite dominating much of the play.Up next was another derby with Brentford the visitors and Postecoglou had rested eight players from his starting line-up in midweek with all of the fresh players have returned
The Australian has Yves Bissouma back and on the bench after recovering from his groin injury, with Rodrigo Bentancur starting three games in six days in the centre of the midfield. Spurs have lost Wilson Odobert to a hamstring injury that will keep him out for a while and there was a place for 17-year-old Mikey Moore on the bench with Ben Davies missing out.
The game was only 25 seconds old when Brentford scored as Bryan Mbeumo volleyed home from a Keane Lewis-Potter cross from the left. Dejan Kulusevski had given the ball away not far from his own box and then Mbeumo was given too much space by Van de Ven to crash his shot home.
Spurs were level just seven minutes later. Dominic Solanke bagged his first goal for Tottenham as he slotted home the loose ball after James Maddison’s shot was saved, the midfielder having done well to intercept a loose pass.The hosts scored a second goal on 28 minutes when Maddison again won the ball back, Son Heung-min raced up the pitch and found Johnson, who ran at his man and buried a clinical shot in the bottom left corner.
Tottenham had further chances but Maddison completed a brilliant individual performance with a lovely chipped goal. Bissouma made a perfect tackle at one end, Spurs raced up the pitch after Cristian Romero sent Son away and he picked out Maddison, who chipped it delightfully over the onrushing keeper.
Guglielmo Vicario
Nothing he could do about Mbeumo’s close range volley in the opening seconds. Made a mess with one delayed pass which got him in trouble and he had to save the follow-up. Then appeared to touch the ball outside his box when claiming a cross. Did then save well from Mbeumo before making a great clawing stop to deny Schade. Those two big saves bumped up his score. 6
Pedro Porro
Gave Lewis-Potter too much room to cross in those opening 25 seconds. Worked hard up and down his flank although he seemed to tire late on. 7
Cristian Romero
A mostly assured performance and his ball through to Son in the build-up to the third goal was perfect. 8
Micky van de Ven
Handed Mbeumo far too much room to volley home for that early goal but did little wrong after that. 7
Destiny Udogie
Another solid display from the left-back as he builds up his sharpness after that lack of pre-season. 7
Dejan Kulusevski
Lost the ball not too far from his own box in the opening moments to hand Brentford the ball to eventually score. However, he was a constant driving force from then on, showing how good he is in the deeper role. 8
Rodrigo Bentancur
His third start in six days and he was superb across his hour, winning tackles and getting Spurs up the pitch constantly. 9
James Maddison
Arguably his best performance in a Spurs shirt. Did well to intercept a pass before his shot was was saved for Solanke to fire home. He then won the ball back for Tottenham’s second goal and was constantly twisting, turning and creating. Got a deserved goal with a lovely chipped effort late on. 10
Brennan Johnson
Got a huge cheer just before kick-off when his name was read out and was heavily involved early on, firing one shot inches wide and having another effort blocked in the Brentford box. He then scored Spurs’ second with a perfect low shot into the far corner. Had a couple of further opportunities including one from a tight angle after Son had run through. Had the crowd singing his name after his goal and when he came off with 20 minutes to go. 8
Dominic Solanke
Opened his Spurs account by slotting home the loose ball from Maddison’s save shot. Worked hard and created plenty of space for himself even if he didn’t see that much of the ball. 7
Son Heung-min
Always a threat and grabbed an assist with his ball into Johnson’s path for Spurs’ second goal and then another one with a perfect pass through to Maddison. Created seven chances for team-mates in a busy display. 8