Tottenham Hotspur arguably played their most dominant game of the season against Brentford this weekend. In contrast to a lot of recent games, the attack looked dynamic. There was a lot more movement in the central areas with Mohmmad Kudus, who created the sideâs first significant chance on the day, being a major threat all across the pitch.
Spurs, who had played the fewest through-balls in the entire league, went ahead in the 25th minute when Pedro Porro played an inch-perfect through ball to Xavi Simons on the run, who passed the ball for a straight-forward Richarlison tap-in. A goal created with Movement and Through-Balls, aspects that had often been lacking in Spursâ attack this season.Â
In the 25 minutes where the game was tied, Spurs outshot Brentford 4 to 1 and had scored 1.03 expected goals compared to the oppositionâs 0.06 (Opta). This was in stark contrast to the rest of the season, where Spurs had conceded 10 goals while scoring 8 when the game was tied and were outshot and outscored on expected goals.Â
Tottenham's defense won the duels
This game saw Spurs keep the lead for more than 65 minutes after breaking the stalemate, refreshing for a side that had trailed for more minutes than they had left throughout the season. Not only did Spurs keep their lead, but they were dominant throughout.
In every 15-minute phase, Spurs outscored Brentford on expected goals, quite significant considering Spurs had been outscored on the same metric in every 15-minute phase between the 1st and 75th minute throughout the league season (Opta/Understat).
A defense that ranked in the worst six for both expected goals conceded and shot quality (expected goals/shot) before the game, conceded just 0.23 expected goals on 4 shots throughout the game (Opta). Spurs had a lot of success in their duels and presses, and when Brentford did break through the lines, they were met by Spursâ defenders who cut out the danger.
The second goal was scored by Xavi Simons directly after winning a duel in midfield, a great example of complementary football on either side, and a far cry from Spursâ league-leading dispossessions and miscontrols (Overlap) leading to the defense being opened up.
It could be a flash in the pan or the start of a turnaround, but for probably the first time in the season, Spurs remained absolutely dominant in a game from start to finish. For much of the season, Frank has struggled, but the Brentford win looks like a right turn.