Solanke On Target As Tottenham Beat Brentford 3-1
Dominic Solanke scored his first goal for Tottenham as they came from behind to beat Brentford in an entertaining game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
After going behind inside 30 seconds, Ange Postecoglou’s side hit back to win convincingly and ease any potential unrest after back-to-back Premier League defeats.
The visitors went in front after just 23 seconds when Bryan Mbeumo superbly volleyed home from Keane Lewis-Potter’s cross.
Spurs were level on eight minutes when Ethan Pinnock’s pass was cut out on the edge of the box by James Maddison and after his shot was saved, Solanke coolly tucked in the rebound.
It was the striker’s first goal since his £65m move from Bournemouth in the summer.
The home side continued to dominate, and after another loose Brentford pass led to Brennan Johnson firing a neat finish past Bees goalkeeper Mark Flekken just before the half-hour, they were more than deserving of their lead.
Maddison made sure of the points late on with a delicate dink after running on to Son Heung-min’s pass.
After falling behind so early, Spurs responded well and were much the better side in a chaotic first half, with Brentford gifting them possession time and again.
But it was the visitors who had the best opportunity late on in the half with home keeper Guglielmo Vicario saving from Mbeumo after being robbed of possession on his own six-yard line by Fabio Carvalho.
Spurs had their chances early in the first half, but Brentford felt they should have been afforded a way back into the game just before the hour when Vicario appeared to handle outside of his box.
Brentford’s frustration was added to when the Italian goalkeeper produced a fine save to claw out Kevin Schade’s well-directed header.
While the away side tried to force an equaliser, Maddison’s goal on the counter eased the home fans’ nerves as Spurs clinched a second league win of the campaign.
With Brentford searching for an equaliser, Vicario came a long way off his line to try to claim a cross.
He failed to take it cleanly and, as his momentum took him out of the penalty area, he reached back to palm the ball away from a Brentford attacker.
The visitors were adamant Vicario had handled outside the box but referee John Brooks turned aside their appeals and as it was not deemed denial of a goalscoring opportunity, the video assistant referee team did not intervene.
VAR can only get involved in decisions on goals, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identity, and it was decided the incident did not fall into any of those categories.
Even if the handball had been given, Vicario would not have been sent off as it did not prevent a clear chance for Brentford to score.
“Not only looked, he had handled it outside the box, but that incident did not define the game,” said Brentford manager Thomas Frank.
“It was a mistake. It could have been a free-kick to us. It could have helped us. But, hey, you never know.
“I think the probability of scoring from a direct free-kick is like 0.0543, so probably not the biggest probability for scoring anyway.
“And I think John Brooks overall had a very good game. The way he handled soft fouls both ways was really good.
“I understand how it is. We can’t be too – I don’t like the word aggressive, but – in-their-face because it’s just our frustration. We can’t do anything about it. Hey, move on.”
