The New York Times

James Maddison hopes his first goal since March “shuts up a few people” after scoring Tottenham Hotspur’s third in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Brentford.

The 27-year-old began the 2024-25 campaign with an assist in each of Tottenham’s opening two Premier League fixtures, but had been without a goal since the 4-0 victory over Aston Villa on March 10.

Maddison added the crucial third in the 85th minute of Saturday’s win, dinking the ball over Mark Flekken after being found by Son Heung-min. The goal was just his second in the Premier League since returning to action in January after over two months out with an ankle injury.

Happy with his personal form, he said he had to take any questions over the numbers he was posting “with a pinch of salt”.

“It helped us in the game because we got that little cushion,” Maddison told the PA news agency. “It kind of shuts up a few people in the background who think the goals and assists do matter more than what they probably do.

“For some games you have it where I feel like I play really well in the build-up and help the team progress but you don’t get a goal or assist to show for that.

“And then people start questioning the numbers, so sometimes you have to take the outside noise with a pinch of salt.”

Dominik Solanke also scored his first goal of the season during Saturday’s win as he levelled the scores after eight minutes, cancelling out Bryan Mbeumo’s early opener.

Solanke, who became the club’s record signing this summer following his £65million move from Bournemouth, was quickest to react after Maddison’s effort was saved by Flekken.

“Dom worked his socks off,” Ange Postecoglou said. “He was gone at the end. He is still getting back to match fitness (after his early-season ankle injury), but I know he is going to provide so much for us in that central position. All strikers love goals, so it will be a great moment for him, especially at home.”

Spurs return to action on Thursday against Qarabag FK in the Europa League.

GO DEEPER

The Briefing: Tottenham 3 Brentford 1 - Johnson scores again but should Vicario have been punished for handball?

(Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

For the second time in the space of four days, Tottenham came back from 1-0 down to win — and again Brennan Johnson was on the scoresheet.

Ange Postecoglou’s team needed added time to beat Coventry City of the Championship 2-1 in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday but it was easier at home in the Premier League on Saturday.

Bryan Mbeumo put Brentford ahead after 23 seconds but Spurs hit back through Dominic Solanke seven minutes later. That was his first goal for the club since joining from Bournemouth this summer in a deal worth £65million ($86.5m). Johnson put Tottenham in front just before the half-hour and James Maddison got the third late in the second half, securing their second win of the Premier League season.

Jay Harris runs through the key talking points…

Brennan Johnson is silencing his doubters

The last week has been a rollercoaster of emotions for Johnson. He deactivated his Instagram account after receiving abuse following Sunday’s 1-0 home defeat against Arsenal.

The 23-year-old started on the bench against Coventry in the Carabao Cup but ended up being Tottenham’s hero by scoring the winner in second-half stoppage time. His muted celebrations suggested what happened off the pitch had taken its toll.

He started on the right wing against Brentford, who had tried to sign him from previous club Nottingham Forest on multiple occasions before he moved to north London just over a year ago, so was competing with Nathan Collins and Keane Lewis-Potter. Johnson’s first involvement in the game was to foul Lewis-Potter and he was given a shove by Collins in response.

Then an interesting tactical tweak by Brentford coach Thomas Frank might have indirectly led to Johnson scoring Spurs’ second goal: during a break in play, Frank instructed Collins to push up higher from his left centre-back role. Within a couple of minutes, Son Heung-min released Johnson into space on the right wing. The Wales international drove past the backpedalling Collins and drilled a shot into the far corner.

The crowd erupted in applause and Maddison whipped his arms up, urging them to make even more noise. When play restarted, the Spurs fans started chanting “There’s only one Brennan Johnson.” It was a wholesome moment which underlined their support for him.

Johnson will be frustrated he failed to score another goal in the second half. Son set him up for another excellent opportunity but he dragged his shot wide. He pulled his shirt up over his face while Postecoglou had his hands on his knees.

There was a huge cheer from the Spurs fans when Johnson was replaced by Pape Sarr with 20 minutes remaining.

Should Vicario and Spurs have been punished for handball?

There was a bizarre moment in the 57th minute which had Brentford’s players screaming for a free kick and for the Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario to be punished.

Mikkel Damsgaard earned a free kick on the edge of Tottenham’s box near the left wing after being crunched by Johnson and Cristian Romero. The 24-year-old Dane’s effort was blocked but Sepp van den Berg reclaimed the ball from Destiny Udogie. Van den Berg passed it to Yehor Yarmoliuk, who pumped a cross high up in the air. It was floating towards the edge of the penalty area and Vicario tried to catch it but misjudged the flight. Vicario flapped at the ball a couple of more times and appeared to touch it with his hand outside the box.

Damsgaard and Lewis-Potter appealed for handball immediately. Brentford’s players were furious as referee John Brooks allowed play to continue before he blew for a Tottenham free kick for a foul in the centre circle. Kristoffer Ajer got a yellow card for protesting and Brooks paused play for around a minute. After the delay, he strode over to the touchline and booked Frank, who could not believe what had happened.

The Athletic has contacted refereeing body PGMOL for comment on the incident.

Brentford score inside 30 seconds for second week running… how?

In last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City, Ajer pushed high up the pitch and Lewis-Potter headed the defender’s cross back across the box for Yoane Wissa to score a first-minute goal.

Ajer and Lewis-Potter were involved in the build-up again for Mbeumo’s stylish volleyed opener today.

Straight from the kick-off, the 6ft 6in (198cm) Ajer pushed up high on Udogie, looking to capitalise on his five-inch height advantage. Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken received the ball, and pumped a pass towards the Norway international centre-back. It dropped for Tottenham forward Dejan Kulusevski, but he was swarmed by Damsgaard and Yarmoliuk.

The ball was then worked out wide to Lewis-Potter, who dropped his shoulder and burst past Pedro Porro. The 23-year-old whipped a cross into the box and Mbeumo swivelled his hips before firing a shot in off the bar. Vicario had no chance of stopping it but Porro should have done better to stall Lewis-Potter, while centre-back Micky van de Ven needed to be closer to Mbeumo.

It was a nightmare start for Tottenham in a game they needed to win after successive defeats against Newcastle and Arsenal in the Premier League.

The crowd were stunned into silence by the early breakthrough but Spurs’ intense high press quickly suffocated Brentford and within seven minutes Solanke had pulled them level.

What did Ange Postecoglou say?

We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.

What next for Tottenham?

Thursday, September 26: Qarabag (H), Europa League, 8pm BST, 3pm ET

Sunday, September 29: Manchester United (A), Premier League, 4.30pm BST, 11.30am ET

Recommended reading

The real Dominic Solanke – resilient, rebuilt and ready to star for Tottenham

Could Coventry cup escape be a turning point for Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham?

‘If Jamie Donley wants to play for Tottenham, this is what he needs to work on…’

The Debate: After Rodri’s comments, should players go on strike over workload?

(Top photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

Anybody who watched Jamie Donley’s performances for Tottenham Hotspur during pre-season would be forgiven for assuming he is a full-back.

With head coach Ange Postecoglou’s options limited due to injuries and players being on holiday following international duty, Donley started at left-back in domestic warm-up friendlies against Hearts and Queens Park Rangers. He then came off the bench in the 3-2 victory over Vissel Kobe on tour in Japan, overlapped Manor Solomon and set up Mikey Moore for the winning goal.

The 19-year-old prefers to play in an attacking central midfield role, and that is where he started for Leyton Orient, where he is now on a season-long loan, in their 3-1 defeat against Premier League side Brentford in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday. Donley was positioned behind a front three of Diallang Jaiyesimi, Zech Obiero and Sonny Perkins for the League One (third-tier) side.

Obiero, also 19, played with Donley in Tottenham’s academy for a few years before he joined Orient permanently in 2022.

Orient’s Spurs connection was rounded off by goalkeeper Josh Keeley, who is also with the east Londoners on loan for the rest of the season. The 21-year-old had only trained with his new team-mates once before starting against Brentford after they signed him on the final day of the transfer window just over two weeks ago.

Donley came up against Yehor Yarmoliuk and Denmark internationals Christian Norgaard and Mikkel Damsgaard. It would have been a valuable experience to face that trio, who have a combined 173 Premier League appearances and 59 senior caps. At one point, he was crunched in a tackle by Norgaard and sent crashing to the floor, but at no point did he look overawed.

He showed flashes of his quality in the game, including a fierce drive Hakon Valdimarsson tipped over the crossbar, and an intelligent reverse pass for substitute Ethan Galbraith which nearly led to a goalscoring opportunity.

The England Under-19 international, who was born in Northern Ireland and has represented that nation at youth-team level too, was often responsible for leading Orient’s press. He kept chasing down Valdimarsson when Brentford would play out from the back and was booked for a lunging challenge on Ryan Trevitt when Orient tried to trap their top-flight hosts high up the pitch.

Richie Wellens, Orient’s head coach, believes Donley’s biggest area for improvement is out of possession.

“On the ball, he has the world at his feet,” Wellens told The Athletic after the game. “He can play at the top level if he wants to.

“But you look at the top teams now, as soon as they lose that ball, they sprint back. That is something Jamie needs in his game — the reaction as soon as the ball turns over, whether it is to go and press or slide back into shape. It is something over the next six to eight months, while he is with us, we will try to develop. If he gets that, he will be a real top player.”

Wellens started his playing career with Manchester United’s academy when Sir Alex Ferguson was the first-team manager but made just one senior appearance for them — off the bench in the League Cup. He did go on to play more than 600 games across the second and third tiers of the English league pyramid for clubs including Blackpool, Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Doncaster Rovers. Now 44, he has an insight into what is required to make it at the top.

“Every time (Donley) doesn’t react (defensively), I am on him, because it’s important,” Wellens said. “I thought he was good tonight but there are still little delays. If you delay, they slide a pass, break a line and the opposition are at you. If he wants to play in Tottenham’s first team, which he has the ability to do, then it is something he needs to develop.”

Donley grew up in the Essex city of Colchester, just over an hour’s drive north east of London, and joined Tottenham’s academy when he was eight. He scored on his debut for the under-18s in November 2020 and signed his first professional contract in January 2022. He broke into the under-21s setup the following season and was rewarded in the March with a new contract running until 2027. Just before his loan to Orient, another new deal tied him to Spurs until the end of the 2028-29 season.

He has not generated the same level of excitement as Moore, 17, and 19-year-old Will Lankshear but he was an integral part of Tottenham Under-21s’ success last season as they won the Premier League 2 title. Moore became the youngest player to represent Spurs in the Premier League when he came off the bench in the 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in May and he then starred for England at the summer’s Under-17 European Championship.

Lankshear got voted Premier League 2 Player of the Season for 2023-24 after scoring 23 goals, including twice in the play-off final against Sunderland, but Donley was that side’s creative spark. He registered 12 assists in 17 league appearances — a lot of them were for Lankshear. It is a partnership everybody would love to see them replicate for Tottenham in the top flight.

Donley made his Premier League debut as a late substitute in the 3-3 draw with Manchester City last December and made two more brief substitute appearances that season, but Lankshear is still waiting for his opportunity.

Lankshear, Moore and Donley did not look out of place with Postecoglou’s first team during pre-season. Donley arguably deserves more praise for performing an unfamiliar role, something he was asked about in a press conference while the club were on tour in Japan.

“I will play wherever the manager wants me to,” Donley said. “I’m still young, so I’m learning different positions. I’m enjoying it and if he wants me to play there, I’ll play. (It is) maybe not as challenging in possession, because the way he plays with the full-backs inverted I think I’m quite comfortable in that position, but defensively it’s something that I’ve got to learn. I might need to play there in my career sometime.

“(Senior assistant coach) Matt Wells, who has been coaching the defence, has helped me. They work on defensive drills about keeping a strong line, being ready to turn and run back to our own goal. Being aggressive, showing the winger outside and making sure they can’t get any crosses in. I’ve just got to keep learning.”

Having this versatility — Donley played up front when he was younger — will be important as there is a lot of competition in Tottenham’s midfield. James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma are the established stars while 18-year-olds Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall arrived this summer with big reputations.

“That’s just the way football is,” Donley said. “People are going to be buying players and it’s for me to push harder to get ahead of them — then when I get ahead of them, stay there.”

Spending this season with Orient should provide Donley with regular game time and a better challenge than he’d get with more youth-team football.

He started their first three league games this season, all of which they lost, and was an unused substitute for last Saturday’s 1-0 win against Reading. Less than 24 hours later, he was sat in the stands for Tottenham’s 1-0 home Premier League defeat against Arsenal.

Hopefully, next year, he will be on the pitch making an impact in the top flight for the team he grew up supporting.

After all, he wouldn’t be the first Tottenham academy graduate to benefit from a loan stint at Brisbane Road…

(Top photo: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Imagine a world in which Djed Spence had run onto Dejan Kulusevski’s pass and shot straight at Coventry goalkeeper Ben Wilson.

Tottenham would only have had two minutes of normal time left to find an equaliser. The home crowd would have been ferocious. Spurs would have had to leave even more space for Coventry to counter-attack into. The home team had missed enough chances to kill the game after Brandon Thomas-Asante put them 1-0 up just past the hour. They could easily have made it 2-0 or more.

Imagine the mood in the away end if Spurs had lost this Carabao Cup tie. Those fans had been on edge all evening, booing at half-time, after watching yet another half with plenty of possession but no goal threat. They had booed again when coach Ange Postecoglou took off Lucas Bergvall for James Maddison, just before Coventry’s goal. If Spurs had been knocked out — while playing this poorly — they would have been apoplectic.

That anger would have been about this performance, which up until Spence’s goal was one of the worst of the Postecoglou era.

The first half had been all toothless possession — Spurs passing it about but going nowhere. The players looked awkward in the build-up, unable to move the ball forward, not even getting into the positions to possibly create chances. And then the second half was even worse: the visitors were sloppy in possession, and every turnover looked like it might lead to a Coventry goal.

Postecoglou defended the performance afterwards, saying that it was “a bit harsh” to call it “flat”. Spurs fans — especially if it had stayed 1-0 — would have said the opposite. To many eyes, last night was the worst under Postecoglou in his 14 months, and in fact the worst for years. At times it felt like the bad old days of Antonio Conte, Nuno Espirito Santo or Jose Mourinho, the players looking frozen on the ball, unwilling to take a risk or make a run. Postecoglou was meant to banish those kinds of performances to the past.

The fans’ anger would not just have been about last night then, but about the sense that Spurs have lost momentum.

You may disagree about exactly when that happened: the Chelsea game last November? The 4-0 away win against Aston Villa in March? But at some point, something was lost that has not been re-discovered. The difference in mood between now and this time last year is palpable. The fierce unity of the fanbase behind the manager has eroded. There are believers, there are sceptics, and plenty in between. Had Spurs lost this tie, it would only have got worse.

But above all, had Spurs lost, there would have been fury at Postecoglou’s selections.

Last season, in their first Carabao Cup game under him, he made nine changes for a trip to fellow Premier League side Fulham, and Spurs lost on penalties. Against Coventry of the Championship, Postecoglou made eight changes.

While some of those were necessary — giving first starts to summer signings Bergvall and Archie Gray — some were not. What new information could he hope to learn about Fraser Forster or Timo Werner or even Ben Davies? Spurs’ struggles suggested they had not started with a strong enough team to win the game. It was the big-name substitutes — Kulusevski, Maddison and Brennan Johnson — who turned the tide.

Postecoglou is not the first Tottenham manager to try to rotate his way through the cups, but this approach never ended well for his predecessors either.

Eighteen months ago, Conte picked a weakened team at Sheffield United, also a second-tier side at the time, in the FA Cup’s last 16. Spurs lost 1-0 and Conte’s standing with the fans never recovered. Four games later, he was gone. Another cup exit from a weakened team as the club continues to wait for a first major trophy since 2008 would have damaged Postecoglou’s own standing.

Imagine the scorn he would have faced in light of his comments on Sunday about winning a trophy in his second season with every club he’s managed.

“I’m happy to be judged against that standard because that’s my standard,” Postecoglou said again on Tuesday. “I have no problems with people using that as a yardstick.” But if Spurs had gone out here, people would have said that he was already down to two realistic chances of a trophy this season — the FA Cup and the Europa League. This is not how you want your prospects to be framed in mid-September. The pressure on Tottenham in those two competitions would have been immense.

Now, it does not take much of a leap to imagine any of these complaints or discussions if Spurs had gone out last night. They very nearly lost the game. They arguably deserved to lose it. From the moment Thomas-Asante scored, if not before, all of this was on everyone’s lips.

But of course in the real world, Spurs did not lose. Spence’s shot went in, then so did Johnson’s. Five minutes after being a goal down, they were 2-1 up. And the mood at the end was very different from the above: a mixture of relief, glee and amazement that Tottenham had rescued everything after playing so badly.

They are safely into the last 16 of the Carabao Cup, ties to be played October 29-30, meaning they can focus on the league and Europa League for the next few weeks. The players were warmly received by the away end and Postecoglou walked over to applaud them too. And when he later spoke of the “relentlessness” his team had shown in rescuing the result, something they had lacked so far this season, you could see what he meant.

The next question for Tottenham is which of these narratives will win out.

Is it the struggles of the first 87 minutes, the problems in possession, the obvious lack of confidence through the team? If so, and if visitors Brentford pose Spurs problems on Saturday that they cannot solve, then the grumbles of the fans that were silenced at the end here will come back.

But if they can bottle some of that character shown in the final minutes against Coventry, the magic of Kulusevski, the bravery of Spence, maybe even a reinvigorated Johnson, and take it into all four competitions, then perhaps this could be a turning point after all.

GO DEEPER

A clip from Arsenal's win over Spurs went viral. The only problem? It was faked

(Top photo: David Rogers/Getty Images)

What do a fake goal-animation video and the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle have in common?

More than you might think.

In the 64th minute of Arsenal’s trip to bitter local rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, Gabriel sent the pocket of away fans into delirium. His header, from another well-worked Arsenal corner routine, was the decisive moment in an otherwise tense north London derby.

The goal was greeted by mass celebrations on and offline. Amid the delight on social media, one supporter dropped a readily prepared graphic, almost immediately after the ball hit the net, which quickly went viral.

It showed Arsenal’s Premier League ‘goal’ animation, on a broadcasters’ score graphic, shooting Tottenham’s cockerel, as featured on their club badge, with a 19th-century style artillery gun – the Arsenal equivalent, with their crest’s cannon. It left the cockerel burnt, and the word ‘GOAL’ and the phrase ‘NL (North London) is red’ appeared.

It was well-timed. Such goal animations are a new thing this year. The Premier League have introduced them this season for every club.

But unsurprisingly, and sorry to spoil anyone’s fun with some Grinch-like fact-checking, this viral animation was not official.

It did, though, appear to trick many, including Arsenal great Ian Wright, who reposted it on Instagram that evening. As an Arsenal fan and ex-player, it must be hard to resist another pop at Spurs, whether genuine or not.

The animation seemingly first appeared on account @AFC_Ryyy on X and was picked up by several aggregators, chalking up thousands of interactions and views. The original post accrued 1.8 million views within 48 hours.

It made for an interesting case study of what can and can’t go viral.

In this day and age, information and misinformation, be they distorted words or images associated with sportspeople or wider news topics, are becoming more complex and persuasive. Wading through that mud of authenticity is a key part of the sphere of sports engagement online.

This piece of work in particular seemed to have the magic viral touch. So what is behind that? The Athletic sought some expert insight.

“I think about social media in the context of kind of a much larger time scale,” explains Aaron Dinin, PhD, a senior lecturing fellow of the faculty in the entrepreneurship programme at Duke University in the U.S. state of North Carolina.

“Most people think social media is some sort of new, world-changing thing that’s just happened. But the truth is it’s part of a much longer evolution of content, that’s been going on for thousands of years. You can trace a direct line from an ancient Greek epic to Mr Beast and current social media content.

“If you go back to ancient Greek rhetoric, Aristotle taught us these things called Ethos, Pathos and Logos. They are the core elements of persuasiveness. Ethos is credibility, Pathos is emotion and Logos is logic. But there was actually a fourth mode of rhetoric that Aristotle talked about that’s kind of become lost over time because there’s no good direct translation for it. The word is Kairos. Kairos means timing, but not timing in terms of how long something takes — timing in terms of when something happens.

“A huge part of success on social media is timing.”

“What’s happened is you got something that has great timing. If someone put this animation out, honestly, even a few hours later, it wouldn’t have been as effective. One of the most important things that makes something go viral on social media is relevance to the current cultural moment.

“Then it is how the algorithms take over. They judge what to share based on how people are engaging with a piece of content. So if this thing comes out and it’s got good timing, you’re going to get immediate likes, shares, reposts whatever, and that’s just going to feed the beast.”

The quality of the video also gives it an illusion of truth. When it is then picked up by more and more accounts with large followings, the authenticity aspect grows.

Separating truth from fiction on social media in this day and age can be like sifting between sugar and sand — or defending set pieces from a Tottenham perspective. Both information and visual imagery can be manipulated with increasing ease after impressive advances in artificial intelligence.

“To do something like this even five or six years ago would have taken just so much longer and more effort than it does now,” says Dinin. “This is the history of all technology. It’s something we’re really struggling with in the world right now.

“If you just zoom out a little on our historical moment, it’s only been a very short amount of time that we can easily send a moving image from one person to another. It used to be a really expensive thing to do. If you saw a video, a clip or a moving image, you would assume someone put a lot of money into it. So there’s no way that this would be cheap or inexpensive or lying to you.

“Now we’ve got this ability to send videos so easily and so quickly, the cost has gone down significantly, but our brains don’t adjust that fast. We don’t evolve that fast as a species.

“So what happens is we’re still in this kind of weird historical moment where we as humans put a lot of stock, a lot of faith, in video content. And that is very easy to trick us.”

This, of course, is much less harmful than the more serious types of fake news, although there is a copyright infringement aspect.

So what is the actual story of these new animations? Well, they were unveiled ahead of the new season by the Premier League and are tailored to each of the 20 clubs. The aim, for the Premier League, was to come up with a creative approach that fans would find authentic and entertaining.

Each team have an emblem or icon that is associated with them.

Arsenal’s one does include use of their cannon when the ball hits the opposition net, but in the official version it fires out the word ‘goal’, rather than obliterating a Spurs cockerel. Tottenham for their part, see the letter ‘o’ in ‘goal’ replaced by the football that is part of their badge. Other examples include a seagull flying across the animation when Brighton score (they are known as the Seagulls), and a fox tail swishing for a Leicester goal (Leicester are nicknamed the Foxes).

The designs were created by Premier League Productions, with the initial process to introduce them beginning back in the spring. The company worked with a design agency and went through 10 rounds of briefings and revisions before signing off on the designs at the end of July.

They are used on the Premier League’s international broadcast feeds, with the aim of offering partners around the world something innovative. They will be visible throughout the season.

To be clear, though, there are just 20 animations, and no game-tailored editions. Not yet, anyway…

(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Ange Postecoglou has said a muscular injury sustained by Tottenham Hotspur’s Wilson Odobert in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup victory at Coventry City could be “fairly significant”.

Odobert has been involved in each of Tottenham’s last three Premier League matches and was handed his third start of the season at Coventry, where late goals from Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson saw Postecoglou’s side survive a potential cup upset and book a place in the fourth round.

“Hard to say,” Postecoglou said after the match when asked about Odobert’s injury. “Wilson looks fairly significant so we’ll just wait and see.”

Spurs had another late injury scare when Timo Werner was substituted off in the 74th minute, replaced by Dejan Kulusevski, after the Germany international went to ground in apparent discomfort.

“Timo, again not really sure if it was just fatigue,” Postecoglou said. “A bit unfortunate both of those, they play in a similar position. We hope it’s nothing too significant.”

Tottenham return to action on Saturday with a home match against Brentford in the Premier League.

(Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

Four points from four matches represent a disappointing start to the 2024-25 Premier League campaign for Tottenham Hotspur, especially considering how impressively they started last season.

The problem with a high defensive line is often considered in basic terms: if your defence is high up the pitch, they leave space in behind that can be exploited. The team were missing Yves Bissouma against Arsenal but it was clearly an issue for the crucial goal in Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat at Newcastle in the previous game, too.

But in Micky van de Ven, Tottenham have the speediest defender in the league, and he’s generally capable of covering that space. The issue, therefore, often isn’t the space in behind the defence: it’s the space in front after the back four have retreated.

Here’s one example from Sunday, 30 seconds into the second half. Tottenham are trying to press high up, with right-back Pedro Porro moving forward in advance of holding midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur to join the four attacking midfielders and the centre-forward Dominic Solanke in the opposition half. Jurrien Timber plays the ball over his head, and Arsenal go on the attack.

And this is the result — an odd situation where it’s suddenly Arsenal’s four attackers against four Spurs players and everyone else is completely out of the game. Therefore, the issue isn’t that Arsenal might go in behind suddenly, but more that they could work the ball backwards and have space in front of the defence.

Eventually, the move ended up in this situation, with Gabriel Martinelli firing the ball across goal towards Bukayo Saka, although Guglielmo Vicario intercepted and the flag was up for offside anyway. Tottenham’s players had got themselves back into the right-back zone, but look at the huge amount of space on the edge of the penalty box…

That foreshadowed a later move.

It came from a situation when Tottenham pushed lots of men forward into the opposition box, but Arsenal cleared and found Kai Havertz about to run in behind. OK, no problem for Tottenham — the defender here is Van de Ven and he won’t be outrun.

But, if anything (Clive), Van de Ven is actually too fast — because Havertz knows he has no chance of beating him. Therefore he made the intelligent decision to turn backwards, which you suspect he might not have done against any other Premier League defender.

He then played a backwards pass to Martinelli and this is Spurs’ real problem: the space in front of the retreating defensive line.

Martinelli had space to play the ball sideways — and again, albeit with Martinelli on the floor, Arsenal had their four attackers against four Spurs defenders. Spurs have covered the space in behind well, but it’s the space in front that is more of a concern.

Arsenal could have worked this situation better. Eventually, Spurs got men back and Arsenal are forced to settle for a corner. But that corner brought the only goal.

This does appear to be a constant issue. Here’s an early chance for Newcastle in their 2-1 win over Tottenham.

It comes from a simple Nick Pope kick downfield, which Anthony Gordon does well to control. Again, any other Premier League centre-back would be worried by the speed of Alexander Isak here, but Van de Ven has it covered.

Yet again the problem is the space in front. Despite the fact Tottenham were using two holding midfielders in the first half of this game, Gordon has space and freedom to come inside and play in Harvey Barnes, who also has space to do his usual thing: cutting inside and curling towards the far top corner. This effort whistled just wide.

For a good example of the speed and determination Spurs need from their attackers, they can look to Martinelli.

Ten minutes after the goal, when Solanke won the ball from Leandro Trossard, Martinelli was wide-left, seemingly out of the game, and could be reasonably expected to throw his arms up in the air because of this needless turnover.

Instead, Martinelli sprinted back to close down Dejan Kulusevski in the centre circle, fouling him in the process…

But Kulusevski had offloaded the ball and referee Jarred Gillett played advantage. Although Martinelli was on the floor, he got up, sprinted back again and then made a crucial challenge in the left-back position…

He promptly got up and tried, in vain, to keep the ball in.

Spurs’ problem isn’t entirely about work rate. It’s also about organisation; if the forwards press, get bypassed and are out of the game, they will struggle to recover their positions.

But that type of determination to sprint back into a position close to the back four is often lacking from Spurs’ attacking players, perhaps with the exception of Kulusevski.

It’s all very well and good having Van de Van’s recovery speed — but if others aren’t able to recover their positions, too, then opposition chances are merely delayed, rather than prevented.

The Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic’s daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox.

Hello! You’re never too young to fight for your club — especially on derby day.

On the way:

🔴 Arsenal’s bragging rights

🧑‍⚖️ Man City vs EPL begins

🤩 The U.S. celebrity clash

👀 Miss of the season (so far)

Stuck in a corner: Postecoglou’s Spurs lose to Arsenal after same set-piece failing

Ange Postecoglou is one of those people who won’t be told that black is white, even when it appears reporters questioning him might indeed be onto something.

Back in May, he was brushing off criticism of Tottenham Hotspur’s inability to properly defend set pieces, a discussion brought on by two goals from corners costing Spurs a derby against Arsenal. Fast forward to September, and here he is again.

It was only one goal this time — a Gabriel header in the 64th minute — but that finish was all Arsenal needed yesterday. It was also the product of a tried-and-tested means of examining Spurs: hang a corner in the airspace of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and let the good times roll. Not by accident did Ben White decide to get into Vicario’s head the last time these clubs met.

Spurs conceded 16 goals from dead-ball deliveries in the 2023-24 season. Postecoglou was adamant he didn’t require a specialist set-piece coach (something Arsenal have in Nicolas Jover) but it’s a recurring theme, and he insisted that Tottenham “work on them all the time”. Corners give Vicario the guise of a man tip-toeing on thin ice.

Once Spurs were breached, the game was Arsenal’s. There was no way through their defence, and David Raya’s clean sheet would have held had Spurs kept the possession counter climbing until sundown. Once again, north London is red.

Getting shirty

Postecoglou was slightly tetchy with Sky Sports’ interviewer after full time. He’ll know Spurs missed a trick.

Mikel Arteta was down on numbers with Declan Rice suspended and Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino injured. It’s a measure of his coaching and Arsenal’s self-assurance that their 4-4-2 defensive shape held up as rigidly as it did.

Saying they wanted it more would be cheap, but without doubt they wanted it. Their (heavily outnumbered) mascot was squaring up to his counterparts in the tunnel beforehand. Arteta’s players were all in during a first-half scuffle. Leandro Trossard had a hole torn in his shirt. En masse, they got into the trenches.

Arteta is an elite manager, and while it didn’t take a masterclass like yesterday’s to justify the contract extension he signed last week, he’s fundamental to everything Arsenal are doing.

The discipline required to keep Spurs out was ideal practice for Manchester City away this Sunday. Arsenal could have gone there five points behind. Instead, the gap is two. Under pressure and depleted, yesterday’s result goes down as a huge hold of serve.

Here comes Haaland…

The key for Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium — do what nobody else is capable of doing and face down Erling Haaland.

The 24-year-old scored with his first shot of the season. So far, he has nine goals from 20 attempts. He bagged another two against Brentford on Saturday and was the width of a post from a third hat-trick in a row, a feat last recorded in England’s top flight in 1946.

The only thing as predictable as him is the Premier League table. Liverpool’s defeat to Nottingham Forest — a first under Arne Slot — means we’re four fixtures in and already, it’s City and Arsenal, positions one and two. After the last two seasons, we’re about to complete the trilogy.

News round-up: Manchester City’s case over financial charges begins

(Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)

The most hotly-anticipated legal case in Premier League history — the 100-plus financial charges levied against Manchester City — is scheduled to start today. After so much talking, it’s down to business — and we’ve explained it all for you.

The weekend saw some high-profile injuries. Bukayo Saka limped out of Arsenal’s win at Spurs, Alexander Isak hurt an eye in Newcastle United’s 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Dani Olmo tweaked a hamstring as Barcelona maintained their perfect La Liga record by beating Girona 4-1.

The U.K. government has long been planning to create an independent football regulator to oversee the English game. UEFA is warning that England could be barred from Euro 2028 — a tournament they are co-hosting — if that happens. Hmm.

Speaking of Euro 2028, Casement Park in Belfast was due to be staging matches during the tournament. That won’t happen now — because cash needed to redevelop the ground isn’t available.

After leaving Juventus, Adrien Rabiot was minus a club at the end of the transfer window. Two weeks on, he’s joined Marseille on a free.

Conor Gallagher got his first Atletico Madrid goal last night. That’s him up and running.

Brady vs Reynolds 🥊

In the blue corner, Birmingham City. In the red corner, Wrexham. That’s your match-up for tonight; a League One tussle like very few others.

Both clubs are indicative of the extent to which football has become a celebrity playground. Tom Brady is on the scene at Birmingham. Wrexham are squeezing everything out of the Hollywood connections of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Will Ferrell tipped up at a Leeds United game on Saturday. They all want a piece of the action.

McElhenney described Birmingham versus Wrexham as “an absolute banger” — something never normally said about third-tier fare. He’s right. It’s got a prime-time slot on Sky Sports in the U.K. It’s live on CBS in the United States, the result of CBS muscling in on EFL broadcast rights. Be as cynical as you like about the celebrity influx but the brush with showbiz is opening new frontiers.

📺 League One: Birmingham City vs Wrexham, 3pm ET/8pm UK — CBS, Fubo/Sky Sports

Quiz answer

Did you get the four players who have turned out for Arsenal and Spurs in the Premier League? They were: Emmanuel Adebayor, Sol Campbell, David Bentley and William Gallas.

Inevitable Messi

Does Lionel Messi ever tire of his trade? The reason I ask is that it’s all well and good being the greatest of all time but there’s got to be a point at which easy is too easy.

Messi, you’ll recall, was injured in the Copa America final and left the field in tears. That was two months ago. He made his comeback for Inter Miami on Saturday — and marked it by scoring twice (including this nifty finish, above), assisting another goal and cantering through a 3-1 win over Philadelphia Union.

In total, he’s played 13 times this season. He’s got 28 goal contributions. Inter are cruising towards the Supporters’ Shield and let’s be real, the MLS Cup is theirs to lose provided Messi stays fit. Injury is the only thing capable of holding him back, and even that is dealt with like a minor inconvenience.

Around The Athletic FC

The scoreline at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday was Bournemouth 0 Chelsea 1. But the real point of note was the stack of 14 yellow cards — the most in a Premier League match ever. That doesn’t include the cards shown to both managers either.

Nottingham Forest’s win over Liverpool was their first at Anfield for 55 years. Paul Taylor has written about their superb, out-of-possession composure which made it happen.

I liked Tim Spiers’ latest piece on club nicknames because it mentions the famous Heart of Midlothian. And between the Lepers and the Rat-Stabbers, I was reminded that South America has the best monikers anywhere.

Aston Villa aren’t winning on the PR front at present. How did some of their season-ticket holders turn up at Villa Park to find they had no seats?

The top line from Mauricio Pochettino’s first press conference as USMNT head coach was cast in some quarters as him saying the U.S. can win the 2026 World Cup. He didn’t say that — he just wants his players to think like that.

Most clicked in Monday’s TAFC: Player X, the footballer accused of sexual offences who can’t be named.

Catch a match

La Liga: Rayo Vallecano vs Osasuna, 3pm/8pm — ESPN+/Premier Sports.

Serie A: Parma vs Udinese, 12.30pm/5.30pm — Paramount+/OneFootball; Lazio vs Hellas Verona, 2.45pm/7.45pm — Paramount+, CBS/OneFootball

And finally… an expected goal

If you’ve got that Monday feeling, be glad you’re not Derby County’s Ebou Adams. This was his chance in the 97th minute of Derby’s 1-0 win over Cardiff City — having done all the hard work and chased down a long punt forward after a corner.

Our friends from Opta Stats say the expected goals (xG) value of the opportunity was 0.75. In layman’s terms, that’s deep inside the territory of ‘no excuses’. He’ll have enjoyed reporting back in for training this morning.

(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Ange Postecoglou’s fiery interview with Sky Sports reporter Emma Saunders after Tottenham Hotspur lost 1-0 to Arsenal on Sunday gave us an insight into his long-term ambitions.

When Saunders suggested Postecoglou “normally” wins trophies in his second season at a club, he could not resist correcting her. “I don’t usually win things, I always win things in my second year,” he said.

At his last three clubs, excluding Melbourne Victory (he left after a year to coach Australia), Postecoglou has not just won a trophy in his second year but the league title. He achieved that with Brisbane Roar, Yokohama F Marinos and Celtic. There is data which backs up that they improve across several different metrics.

Postecoglou’s tense exchange with Saunders came after Spurs lost at home to Arsenal for the third year in a row (the first loss being under Antonio Conte), leaving them with four points from as many games. Last Friday, Postecoglou spoke in his pre-match press conference about how this fixture would be a good way to measure his side’s progress.

“But it’s not just about winning,” he said. “You can win a game like this and walk away knowing they played us off the park in reality. I’ve always said to go out there against the best and perform, that’s the best measure. Then hopefully you will win the game as well. If we go out on Sunday, dominate this game, create more chances, really nullify them, then I think irrespective of the result the players will walk off thinking, ‘OK, next time we’ll have another crack at it’. That’s where the real belief comes from.

“They’re a good measure for us not just in winning the game but can we play our football against them?”

That is exactly what Tottenham did and there was nothing disastrous about the performance. It was much better than the last time these two teams met in May when they were losing 3-0 at half-time. Yet it is clear they still have a long way to go to bridge the gap to the best teams in the division and to win a trophy.

Spurs had 63.7 per cent possession against Arsenal but only recorded an xG (expected goals) total of 0.7. At the moment, they are struggling to create quality scoring opportunities despite dominating the ball. It is the same issue which caused them to drop points against Newcastle United and Leicester City.

This was only Dominic Solanke’s second appearance since he joined Tottenham from Bournemouth for a club-record fee of £65million ($85m) at the beginning of August. The 27-year-old demonstrated his quality by dropping into space and linking up play. It confused William Saliba and Gabriel, who did not seem to know whether to follow him or who was responsible if they did.

But Saliba’s tackle on Solanke in the first half is a great example of the “lack of conviction” Postecoglou spoke about in his press conference afterwards — something which will hold them back from winning silverware. James Maddison intercepted Ben White’s pass and Solanke found himself completely free near the edge of the box. Instead of shooting, he tried to shimmy past Saliba. A great opportunity to score had been wasted.

Solanke works hard out of possession and in the 49th minute, he stole the ball from Jorginho to initiate a counter-attack. Brennan Johnson was in space on the right wing but his cross into the box was at an awkward height for Solanke. You hope that these problems will be resolved when everybody becomes more familiar with one another.

Last season, Arsenal had the best defensive record in the top flight. They are not easy for any side to create chances against. With Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino and Declan Rice missing, Mikel Arteta’s side defended deeper than usual. Arteta’s comments that “in some moments we had to suffer” and that they won “ugly” should be taken as a compliment.

It is not as if Spurs’ opponents possessed a huge threat either. Arsenal only managed an xG of 0.7 themselves, which is the lowest they have recorded since a 0-0 draw with Manchester City in March. Compared to their chaotic display in the last north London derby, Tottenham’s defence looked much more compact.

It was frustrating to concede from another set piece though and it will only increase fears that they have not addressed this issue from last season, when only Luton Town (19), Sheffield United (19) and Nottingham Forest (23) had a worse record (16). This was the first time they have conceded from a corner or a free kick in the 2024-25 campaign and they do seem like a more organised unit.

Nick Montgomery, who was appointed as an assistant coach in the summer, can often be seen on the edge of the technical area during set pieces dishing out instructions to players. Gabriel’s header was not due to any structural failure but a lapse of concentration from Cristian Romero, who lost track of the Brazilian centre-back.

This fixture normally guarantees drama — the last time there was a 0-0 draw in this contest was in February 2009 — but this was a tight, tense affair. The rhythm was constantly disrupted as there was a series of flashpoints between both teams, usually involving Jurrien Timber. In the first 45 minutes, it even felt like Arsenal were deliberately taking a long time with goal kicks and free kicks in their own half to slow play down. And these are challenges Tottenham’s players need to learn to overcome.

Arteta has been in charge of Arsenal for nearly five years. This is only the beginning of Postecoglou’s second season and the rate of turnover in the squad has been dizzying. Tottenham’s squad is younger than their rivals for the first time in seven years. This group needs the opportunity to grow together and this result will be an important part of that process.

Postecoglou might be confident his team can achieve something significant this year — but this result was a reminder there is more work to be done.

(Top photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)

A depleted Arsenal side recorded a vital win against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.

The first half contained the level of intensity — if not the white vs red shirts — you expect from this fixture, with referee Jarred Gillett handing out seven yellow cards (five for the home side) in the opening 45 minutes, equalling the Premier League record for a first half (less than a day after Bournemouth vs Chelsea produced a total of 14 bookings).

The best chance of a goalless opening fell to Gabriel Martinelli, but he shot straight at Guglielmo Vicario. It was a comfortable moment for a goalkeeper who spent much of the half looking decidedly uncertain at set pieces.

And that set-piece susceptibility came back to haunt Spurs midway through the second half: an unchallenged Gabriel headed home from four yards to put Arsenal 1-0 up. Mikel Arteta’s side then stood firm against Spurs’ pressure as the clock ran down to seal a massive three points, and a third successive win at their arch-rivals’ home.

Here, our writers analyse some of the key moments from the game.

A huge win for Arsenal

Travelling to take on Manchester City next Sunday already four points behind would have placed a huge amount of pressure on them to avoid defeat. Arsenal’s squad know all too well that seven points is a mile back when chasing Pep Guardiola’s team.

That’s why this victory — with their entire first-choice midfield missing and the stakes already ratcheting up — was so vital for Arteta’s men. It keeps Arsenal within touching distance and kickstarts their season after the disappointment of the 1-1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break.

The resilience they showed when soaking up Tottenham pressure, the work rate that both wingers put into their defensive responsibilities and the adaptability Jorginho and Thomas Partey displayed to make up for their ageing legs are intangibles that will add belief to this team.

Jordan Campbell

A wasted opportunity for Tottenham?

With Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino and Declan Rice unavailable, Spurs had an opportunity to beat Arsenal for the first time since May 2022. There were some encouraging signs in the first half as Dominic Solanke linked up with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski nicely. Solanke kept dropping off Gabriel and William Saliba who did not know whether to follow him and who was responsible if so.

As can be seen from the graphic below, Spurs dominated possession and territory.

They lost their momentum midway through the first half, however, and never truly looked like reclaiming it. Arsenal’s stubborn 4-4-2 shape was difficult to break down in the second half and there were multiple occasions when Maddison had no other option but to hit a hopeful cross into the box.

This was a better performance compared to the last time these two teams met, when Arsenal were leading 3-0 at half-time. It will sting that Arsenal scored from another set piece but that was more down to Cristian Romero switching off (and Vicario failing to impose himself) than any structural failure.

Tottenham have improved under Postecoglou but this leaves them with four points from as many games. They have lost to Newcastle and Arsenal, two teams they want to compete with towards the top of the table and for Champions League qualification.

This felt like another harsh lesson that hopefully Postecoglou’s young side will learn from.

Jay Harris

Another lapse of concentration from Romero?

Reports in this morning’s newspapers suggested that Real Madrid had sent a scout to the north London derby to assess whether Tottenham’s Romero or Arsenal’s William would be a worthwhile transfer target. Based on this game — and, in truth, based on the last year — Romero comes off worse, and worse in comparison to Micky van de Ven too.

Romero is the type of centre-back who catches the eye. He is aggressive. He is committed. He gets the crowd going. He puts in crunching tackles. He runs through brick walls — even if the brick wall isn’t actually in his way. But he’s also not a particularly great defender. The Argentinian is a World Cup winner, granted — but it’s worth remembering that so was Leeds United flop Roque Junior.

Romero was both outwitted and then (more embarrassingly) wound up by Leicester’s Jamie Vardy in a game Tottenham clearly should have won but drew 1-1. He’s been very heavily involved in the opposition box in a 4-0 win over Everton — the kind of meat-and-potatoes opposition that suits him — including heading in the third goal.

In the 2-1 loss to Newcastle, he was partly responsible for the first goal and for the second, when he simply didn’t bother running back as Alexander Isak sprinted in behind. He ended up 30 yards behind the Newcastle goalscorer. Here, his defending against Gabriel — always Arsenal’s main threat at set pieces — was hopeless. He was the wrong side, got outmuscled and seemed to be aware of neither man nor ball.

Van de Ven’s recovery pace is rightly considered a key part of Tottenham’s gameplan, but it’s partly so important because he’s playing alongside a defender who doesn’t seem to know how to defend. If Madrid are genuinely interested, Spurs should be delighted.

Michael Cox

A predictably… intense match

There is always going to be tension when these teams meet, and Jurrien Timber always seemed to be at the heart of it on Sunday.

In the first 15 minutes, he had a flare-up with Brennan Johnson that ended with them both in a heap on the floor — but that was nothing compared to what happened just after the half an hour mark.

The Netherlands international tackled Dejan Kulusevski while he was on the floor and then won the loose ball from Pedro Porro. Tottenham’s right-back went down in pain but Timber carried on, burst into the box and won a corner. Romero recklessly wiped out his own team-mate Kulusevski in his desperation to take down Timber and gain revenge for Porro.

Vicario then rushed over to Timber and squared up with him. Despite Vicario’s size advantage, Timber did not back down and grabbed the goalkeeper by the scruff of his shirt.

Players from both teams then rushed over to try to defuse the situation, which ended with Vicario and Timber being booked. There were lots of other little skirmishes, too, including when Van de Ven fouled Leandro Trossard, who howled in pain.

As usual, the north London derby delivered on drama.

Jay Harris

Arsenal’s defensive organisation was spot-on

Defending against Postecoglou’s Tottenham in a low block isn’t the easiest of tasks. The wide combinations between the winger, full-back and No 8 make it a tedious task, and the dynamism of their movement and rotations only makes it harder.

In the first half of this north London derby, Arsenal’s defensive organisation limited that threat. Defending out of a 4-4-2 with Partey and Jorginho behind Kai Havertz and Trossard, one of Arsenal’s wingers would drop to form a situational back five towards the side where Tottenham are trying to attack while the other would tuck in next to the double pivot to minimise the space.

Meanwhile, Saliba and Gabriel were alert to switch markers with Arsenal’s double pivot when Solanke dropped deeper and Tottenham were searching for runners in behind the defence. In addition, Partey and Jorginho dropped to fill in the gaps in the defensive line.

Arsenal needed David Raya only once in open play in the first half when Tottenham combined down the left and played a cutback to Dejan Kulusevski, but transitional moments looked dangerous.

In the second half, it was expected that Tottenham would increase the pressure, especially after Gabriel put Arsenal in the lead, but more blocks and Raya being in position to save more shots earned Arsenal a deserved victory.

Ahmed Walid

What did Ange Postecoglou say?

The Tottenham manager spoke at length when asked about his team’s record at set-pieces. “For some reason people think I don’t care about set-pieces and it is a narrative you can keep going with for ages and ages. I understand that,” he said.

“We work on them all the time like any other team we know they are a threat. For the most part we handled them really well but we switched off for one and we paid the price. You learn from that and move on. It is what it is. It is my burden to carry and I’m happy to do it.

“There’s a bigger picture that’s at play here that is much more important than the finer details of us getting to where we want to. For us the way forward is to try to turn the football we are playing now into something meaningful.

What did Mikel Arteta say?

The Arsenal manager was delighted with the maturity his side showed in Sunday’s game.

“After the international break, we had a few blows,” Arteta said to BBC Sport. “How the team reacted was magnificent. It showed a lot of maturity from the team.

“When they (Spurs) get into the final third, it’s very difficult because they have a structure. We were missing vital players and we had to react to that. I’m very pleased.

‘We had to adjust and use different players and qualities. I was hoping they would do something with the ball and we did it. Sometimes better than others. They are a really good side.

“When we have to defend in deeper areas, we did it really well. There are things to improve but we have another victory here and it’s huge. I know how our supporters will feel about this so enjoy it.”

What next for Tottenham?

Wednesday, September 18: Coventry City (A), Carabao Cup, 8pm BST, 3pm ET

What next for Arsenal?

Thursday, September 19: Atalanta (A), Champions League, 8pm BST, 3pm ET

Recommended reading

Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 return: What to look out for in top five leagues

Tottenham vs Arsenal and why north London supremacy is all a matter of timing

(Top photo: Getty Images)