Tottenham 2-0 Brentford: Spurs swat Bees at the Lane

Spurs win! Tottenham Hotspur hosted Brentford and their manager Trent Crimm Thomas Frank in the first match of what will be an incredibly busy holiday fixture period. Spurs played well from the opening kick and won 2-0 behind a first half own goal by Sergei Canós and a wonderfully executed second half team goal tapped in by Son Heung-Min.

It was a refreshing and positive performance coming off of an embarrassing loss to Mura in the Europa Conference League and last weekend’s postponed match at Burnley. And what a way to bounce back!

This was a match I didn’t pay super close attention to (midweek matches suck for those of us with Actual Jobs™), but here are some superficial notes.

Match Reactions

• Ben Davies’ transformation from a garbage reserve left back to a progressive Antonio Conte central defender is incredible. Someone should do a documentary. Shame they gave that as an OG, he deserved it.
• Big, BIG match from Oliver Skipp today, who looked way more progressive than we’ve come to expect from him. He was constantly getting into the box and making excellent passes. If this is the player he can become under Conte, Spurs could be super fun. A few “wth” moments late when he was clearly tired but that shouldn’t distract from an excellent match.
• Spurs’ second goal was absolutely perfect, from the layoff from Son to Kane to the pass to a streaking reggie, to Sonny’s run at the back post and the easy finish. Gorgeous stuff. God I’ve missed stuff like that.
• Hugo Lloris had a low-key excellent match today. Brentford didn’t create a ton of offense (xG was 2.2 - 0.39), but they had a few dangerous looking balls in and Hugo did well to make a few tips and saves that probably weren’t as easy as they looked.
• After a couple weeks where he looked off the boil, this was one of Sonny’s best games so far this season. He was so bright and direct on the ball, and even when he screwed up he was still dribbling dudes to recover. Should’ve had another goal but had a rocket of a shot well saved by Fernandez.
• Davinson Sanchez looked really leggy in this one again and had a number of questionable moments. Nothing nearly to the extent that he had in Slovenia, but still he looks like the weak link in Tottenham’s back line.
• Feels good to watch a pretty comfortably fun Tottenham win again, doesn’t it? See y’all Sunday when Spurs host Norwich.