Tottenham 3 Brentford 1 – Johnson scores again but should Vicario ...

22 Sep 2024

The Athletic

Tottenham 3 Brentford 1 Johnson scores again but should Vicario

Spurs recovered from going behind after 23 seconds, and Johnson was on the scoresheet once more having been their midweek cup hero

For the second time in the space of four days, Tottenham came back from 1-0 down to win — and again Brennan Johnson was on the scoresheet.

Ange Postecoglou’s team needed added time to beat Coventry City of the Championship 2-1 in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday but it was easier at home in the Premier League on Saturday.

Bryan Mbeumo put Brentford ahead after 23 seconds but Spurs hit back through Dominic Solanke seven minutes later. That was his first goal for the club since joining from Bournemouth this summer in a deal worth £65million ($86.5m). Johnson put Tottenham in front just before the half-hour and James Maddison got the third late in the second half, securing their second win of the Premier League season.

Jay Harris runs through the key talking points…

Brennan Johnson is silencing his doubters

The last week has been a rollercoaster of emotions for Johnson. He deactivated his Instagram account after receiving abuse following Sunday’s 1-0 home defeat against Arsenal.

The 23-year-old started on the bench against Coventry in the Carabao Cup but ended up being Tottenham’s hero by scoring the winner in second-half stoppage time. His muted celebrations suggested what happened off the pitch had taken its toll.

He started on the right wing against Brentford, who had tried to sign him from previous club Nottingham Forest on multiple occasions before he moved to north London just over a year ago, so was competing with Nathan Collins and Keane Lewis-Potter. Johnson’s first involvement in the game was to foul Lewis-Potter and he was given a shove by Collins in response.

Then an interesting tactical tweak by Brentford coach Thomas Frank might have indirectly led to Johnson scoring Spurs’ second goal: during a break in play, Frank instructed Collins to push up higher from his left centre-back role. Within a couple of minutes, Son Heung-min released Johnson into space on the right wing. The Wales international drove past the backpedalling Collins and drilled a shot into the far corner.

Johnson scores his goal (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

The crowd erupted in applause and Maddison whipped his arms up, urging them to make even more noise. When play restarted, the Spurs fans started chanting “There’s only one Brennan Johnson.” It was a wholesome moment which underlined their support for him.

Johnson will be frustrated he failed to score another goal in the second half. Son set him up for another excellent opportunity but he dragged his shot wide. He pulled his shirt up over his face while Postecoglou had his hands on his knees.

There was a huge cheer from the Spurs fans when Johnson was replaced by Pape Sarr with 20 minutes remaining.

Should Vicario and Spurs have been punished for handball?

There was a bizarre moment in the 57th minute which had Brentford’s players screaming for a free kick and for the Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario to be punished.

Mikkel Damsgaard earned a free kick on the edge of Tottenham’s box near the left wing after being crunched by Johnson and Cristian Romero. The 24-year-old Dane’s effort was blocked but Sepp van den Berg reclaimed the ball from Destiny Udogie. Van den Berg passed it to Yehor Yarmoliuk, who pumped a cross high up in the air. It was floating towards the edge of the penalty area and Vicario tried to catch it but misjudged the flight. Vicario flapped at the ball a couple of more times and appeared to touch it with his hand outside the box.

Damsgaard and Lewis-Potter appealed for handball immediately. Brentford’s players were furious as referee John Brooks allowed play to continue before he blew for a Tottenham free kick for a foul in the centre circle. Kristoffer Ajer got a yellow card for protesting and Brooks paused play for around a minute. After the delay, he strode over to the touchline and booked Frank, who could not believe what had happened.

Frank was furious Vicario got away with an apparent handball outside the box (Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

The incident was not reviewed by the video assistant referee as they can only intervene if the handball was the denial of a goal or a goalscoring opportunity.

Frank had calmed down by the time the game finished. He said: “It wasn’t impacting the game (the decision). It wasn’t a penalty, it wasn’t a red card, it was just a free-kick outside the box which John (Brooks, the referee) should have seen. I think he refereed a very good game, that was just a small little thing. If you come here you need to get everything with us to maximise our chances in the game.”

Brentford score inside 30 seconds for second week running… how?

In last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City, Ajer pushed high up the pitch and Lewis-Potter headed the defender’s cross back across the box for Yoane Wissa to score a first-minute goal.

Ajer and Lewis-Potter were involved in the build-up again for Mbeumo’s stylish volleyed opener today.

Straight from the kick-off, the 6ft 6in (198cm) Ajer pushed up high on Udogie, looking to capitalise on his five-inch height advantage. Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken received the ball, and pumped a pass towards the Norway international centre-back. It dropped for Tottenham forward Dejan Kulusevski, but he was swarmed by Damsgaard and Yarmoliuk.

The ball was then worked out wide to Lewis-Potter, who dropped his shoulder and burst past Pedro Porro. The 23-year-old whipped a cross into the box and Mbeumo swivelled his hips before firing a shot in off the bar. Vicario had no chance of stopping it but Porro should have done better to stall Lewis-Potter, while centre-back Micky van de Ven needed to be closer to Mbeumo.

It was a nightmare start for Tottenham in a game they needed to win after successive defeats against Newcastle and Arsenal in the Premier League.

The crowd were stunned into silence by the early breakthrough but Spurs’ intense high press quickly suffocated Brentford and within seven minutes Solanke had pulled them level.

What did Ange Postecoglou say?

“It was a good win, a good performance. Our performances have been good all year but today we got the result as well which is the most pleasing bit. We should have won by a fair bit more but we still got the job done.”

On Solanke getting his first goal: “Dom worked his socks off. He was gone at the end. He is still getting back to match fitness (after his early-season ankle injury), but I know he is going to provide so much for us in that central position. All strikers love goals, so it will be a great moment for him, especially at home.”