LONDON, Sept 21 (Askume) – Forward Dominic Solanke scored as Tottenham Hotspur beat Brentford 3-1 in the Premier League on Saturday, with Ange Postecoglou’s side recovering from an early defeat with their first goal of the season.
Bryan Mbemo’s acrobatics wowed the home fans but it was Solanke, who has a £65 million ($86.59 million) contract, who scored on a rebound in the eighth minute to delight the crowd.
Brennan Johnson gave Tottenham the lead by scoring in the 28th minute but Tottenham’s lead looked diminished in the second half until James Maddison passed the ball to Son Heung-min to make the score 3–1.
Tottenham’s second win of the season moved them to 10th place with seven points from five games, while Brentford slipped to 12th with six points.
Despite an incredible 2-1 win over second-tier Coventry City in midweek in the Carabao Cup, concerns are growing for Tottenham boss Postecog after the club made their worst start to the Premier League since 2015. Lu questioned.
So when, 23 seconds after kick-off, Mbemo received a cross from Keane-Lewis Porter and volleyed into the top corner, it looked to be an ominous sign for the hosts in the late summer sunshine.
It was the second week in a row that Brentford scored in the first minute, after Ion Wiesa had scored after 22 seconds against defending champions Manchester City, but just like the Etihad pitch, they ended up with no points.
Tottenham responded positively when Maddison received a loose pass from Ethan Pinnock outside the defence, but his shot was saved by goalkeeper Mark Fleckne, but Solanke was alert and scored the equaliser.
Postecoglou said of the striker signed from Bournemouth: “Dom works very hard. Being in the centre position means a lot to us.
“All forwards love to score goals so it will be a great moment for them, especially at home.”
With confidence restored, Tottenham began to dominate, with Son Heung-min passing the ball to Johnson on the right and his angled shot went past Flickinger and into the net.
However, Tottenham lost control and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario almost equalised for Brentford, but he denied first Fábio Carvalho and then Mbemo.
Johnson missed a chance to make it 3-1 after the break and Vicario made a good save to keep out substitute Kevin Shade’s header on the break.
There was an atmosphere of uneasiness around the stadium, but a natural move from the home team allowed Son Heung-min to pursue Maddison down the left and score a brilliant goal.
“It was a great win and a fantastic performance,” said Postecoglou, whose side begin their Europa League journey next week.
“We have been doing well all year but we got the result today which is the most pleasing thing. We should have won by a bigger margin but we still got the job done.”
($1 = 0.7507 British pounds)
