Five things we learned from Tottenham’s 3-1 win over Brentford

Tottenham got back to winning ways with an impressive 3-1 win over Brentford today at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but there was more than just three points to take away from the game.

After losing to Newcastle United and Arsenal in the last two Premier League games, and struggling to a win over Coventry City in the Carabao Cup in midweek, Ange Postecoglou needed a big performance from his side.

Within just 23 seconds, the Lilywhites were behind. But, that quickfire goal sparked a strong reaction from Spurs, and they went in at half-time 2-1 infront thanks to goals from Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson.

A tense second half saw Tottenham spurn a number of good opportunities, but a fine goal from James Maddison in the final stages wrapped up the win. Here are the five big things we learned from the game.

Dominic Solanke is off the mark

After becoming Tottenham’s record transfer signing this summer, there was big pressure placed on Dominic Solanke’s shoulders. A goalless debut and an injury hampered the start to his Spurs career, but he’s back, and he finally has his first goal now.

It was a simple tap in, really, but Solanke was consistently in the right place throughout the game, and there is a lot of promise that a lot more goals will follow. He worked hard, he will be relieved to get off the mark, and we could see the floodgates open from here on out.

James Maddison back to his best

James Maddison was a revelation for Spurs in the first part of last season, but the injury suffered in November 2023 really hit the midfielder hard and he’s struggled to get back to his best form since. He’s had a promising start to the new campaign, but he really came alive against Brentford.

The playmaker was all over everything today; he made smart runs, played beautiful passes through the lines, and was a nuisance for the Brentford defence all game. He sealed the win for Spurs late on with a wonderful finish, too. Let’s hope his confidence is firmly back, and he’s ready to show what he’s truly capable of once more.

A happy Brennan Johnson

We all know Brennan Johnson has been the victim of some very unfair and over-the-top criticism from his own fans of late, leading to him deactivating his social media accounts. He has really started to silence those critics this week, with two huge goals.

After scoring the winner against Coventry in midweek, Johnson turned up with another fine finish today and was electric down the right-hand side all game. He looks happy again, and more importantly, confident. If the fans get behind him, he can have another brilliant season.

We need to talk about Guglielmo Vicario

Another player who has received his share of criticism over the last year, Guglielmo Vicario did himself no favours today. A shaky first half saw the Italian nearly gift Brentford a goal with some hesitant footwork in the box, and he started the second half by very nearly getting sent off — a lucky VAR call saved his bacon.

The Spurs number one did curry some favour by making an incredible save from a Kevin Schade header to protect our lead, but he seriously needs to work on the command of his area, his decision-making, and his composure.

Clinical finishing the difference

Tottenham have been on the wrong side of a few results this season already. They could and should have seen off Leicester fairly easily, but wasted chances. They could and should have taken the win at Newcastle, but failed to capitalise on a period of dominance. Another decent display against Arsenal was let down by a lack of a cutting edge in the final third.

Against Brentford, all that control and chance creation we’ve seen over the season so far came good, and a clinical Tottenham side sealed a nice win. If Spurs can continue to dominate games AND put away their chances, Postecoglou’s men will be an incredibly dangerous outfit this term.

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