Tottenham Hotspur is back to winning ways in the Premier League as the side left Gtech Stadium with a grueling 2-0 victory over Brentford on Sunday morning.
With the teamsheet announced more than an hour before kickoff and not seeing Mickey van de Ven on the teamsheet, many were left asking, ‘Did he get hurt yet again?’
But Ange Postecoglou reassured at his pregame press conference that with three games upcoming and a huge semi-final clash at Liverpool with a Carabao Cup final on the line that, “We’re just trying to manage his minutes, “ Ange explained at the Gtech. “It’s a quick turnaround and with speaking with the medical team and Micky himself, we’ll just keep him on ice this weekend, give him another week training and then hopefully he’ll be ready for the end of the week.”
Taking on a great mid-table Brentford side that has the likes of Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa taking over the team with Ivan Toney gone for good, Spurs defense was in a treat to hold things down.
One particular defender who came out to showcase his skills was Djed Spence. Tasked with taking on Mbeumo in one-on-one action at left back, Spence pocketed Mbuemo for the majority of the match as he kept the in-form winger from taking over in the game.
Playing on the back foot for most of the first half, Spurs capitalized when it mattered most. Earning a corner kick with Son Heung-min at the right corner flag, the captain sent in an in-swinging ball to the crowded six-yard box. Seeing the ball bounce off the back of Vitaly Janelt — who battled Yves Bissouma for the position in front of his keeper — Son put another Olimpico into the back of the net thanks to the own goal.
Brentford’s final big chance in the half came way off a corner kick with a deflection coming to the path of a first-time volley chance for Mbeumo. Hammering his shot for what looked to be a goal, Richarlison put his head in line with the shot to give way to a corner.
Leading 1-0 into the locker room, Spurs made a change with Lucas Bergvall beefing up the midfield with Mikey Moore coming off as he was bullied off the ball on multiple occasions.
Sitting back and dealing with relentless pressure from Brentford in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, Spurs defense did its job as the onslaught was handled well.
Spurs put the game to bed for good in the 87th minute with Rodrigo Bentancur hitting Son on the left wing with Spence overlapping the captain. With space in the middle and Pape Sarr streaking down for a perfect ball to come his way, Sonny hit a pass for Sarr to get a first-touch shot underneath Hákon Valdimarsson and a crucial 2-0 lead.
Holding on in the end for a 2-0 win, Spurs picked up its first points in the league since the 2-2 draw against Wolves on December 29th.
Man-of-the-match performance for Djed Spence as his one-on-one defending against Mbuemo involved a lot of pace and abilities to pocket the winger. On the other end, Spence made pushes down the flank in the early stages to try and get the ball rolling into the box for his side.
Now, Spurs turn focus to the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final at Anfield, with the side entering enemy territory with a 1-0 lead.