Son Heung-min, Sergio Reguilon and Oliver Skipp stood out as Tottenham eked out a hard-fought 2-0 win over Brentford on Thursday.
Tottenham dominated the initial exchanges, albeit without creating any clear-cut opportunities. The hosts did break the deadlock, though, courtesy of an own goal by Sergi Canos, who headed the ball into his own net after Pontus Jansson’s attempted clearance from Son Heung-min’s cross ricocheted off the Spaniard.
After that, Tottenham remained the more dominant of the two sides but could not trouble Alvaro Fernandez much in the Brentford goal apart from a couple of efforts by Son and Harry Kane. It was shortly after Kane had his shot saved that Tottenham doubled their advantage, at a time when Brentford had started posing a greater threat at the opposite end.
Spurs’ goal came from an express counter-attacking move, as Kane released Sergio Reguilon on the left flank before the Spaniard squared the ball to Son Heung-min, who tapped into an empty net to round off the victory. Neither goalkeeper was troubled much after that as Tottenham claimed a crucial 2-0 win to climb up to sixth in the Premier League standings. The Hard Tackle now runs the rule over Antonio Conte’s men.
Hugo Lloris: 7/10
There was not a lot that Lloris had to do on the day, but he was alert to whatever threat Brentford created. The Tottenham captain made a couple of smart saves while also dealing with aerial situations with aplomb.
Davinson Sanchez: 6/10
Sanchez was involved in the buildup to Son Heung-min’s goal and set off the counter-attacking move. However, that was as good as it got for the Colombian international, who looked nervy whenever a Brentford attacker charged at him. He needs to be stepping up defensively.
Eric Dier: 7/10
Dier has done fairly well as the leader of the defensive unit since Conte took charge, and his display on Thursday bolstered that thought process further. The 27-year-old completed three clearances and one interception while winning five duels. He helped build up play efficiently bar one or two wasteful passes from the back.
Ben Davies: 7/10
Davies did well to put Pontus Jansson, and Sergi Canos under pressure after the cross from Son went into the Brentford box when Tottenham took the lead. The Welshman posed a threat with his underlapping runs but was also sloppy on the ball, losing possession 21 times. But he defended well when called into action.
Emerson Royal: 6/10
It was not the best of performances by Emerson, who struggled to pose a threat on his forays down the right-wing. However, he was solid for the most part defensively, completing five clearances, two interceptions and two tackles. His end product needs to improve now.
Oliver Skipp: 8/10
Solidity in midfield was a major reason why Tottenham grabbed the big win on Thursday. And Skipp was the protagonist of a colossal display by the midfield unit, with the youngster cutting out the threat of the Brentford buildup play smartly while also showing guile when playing the ball forward. He set up a superb chance for Harry Kane, only for Alvaro Fernandez to deny him.
Oliver Skipp vs Brentford
49 passes
82% pass accuracy
2 key passes
1 big chance created
1 tackle won
1 interception
1 clearance
1 aerial wonA player who will benefit a lot from working with Antonio Conte. pic.twitter.com/lkszvjoZjA
— Football Talent Scout – Jacek Kulig (@FTalentScout) December 2, 2021
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg: 7/10
Hojbjerg put on a solid performance against Brentford on Thursday. The Dane was a rock in the middle of the park and only suffered when Vitaly Janelt decided to be more direct in his approach in the second half. Otherwise, there was no way past him for the most part. He should have done better when attempting to convert a chance by Kane.
Sergio Reguilon: 8/10
Reguilon continues to be one of the best performers for Tottenham this season. On Thursday, the Spaniard worked hard on either end of the pitch, as he neutralised the threat of Canos while being a potent outlet down the left flank. And it was his low cross that went towards Son for the second goal of the game, finishing an express counter-attacking move in the process.
Lucas Moura: 6/10
It was a difficult game for Lucas Moura. While he did force a decent save out of Fernandez, his end product was sorely lacking. On top of that, his pass completion rate of 54 per cent was abysmal, to say the least. The Brazilian needs to make massive improvements to have a long-term future at Tottenham.
Harry Kane: 7/10
Kane might not have scored against Brentford, but this was a big step in the right direction from the Englishman. He did come close to finding the back of the net, only to be denied by Fernandez. However, on Thursday, Kane was heavily involved in chance creation, playing a game-high four key passes while releasing Reguilon in the buildup to Son’s goal. Job well done.
Son Heung-min: 8/10
2021/22 continues to be the Son Heung-min Show at Tottenham Hotspur. The South Korean ace was heavily involved in everything that Spurs created, including each of their goals scored. For the first, it was his cross that went into the danger area before Canos netted the own goal. The cherry on top was his own strike, which came courtesy of the simplest of tap-ins from Reguilon’s cross.
Son Heung-Min scored his 75th Premier League goal for Spurs; his fifth this season and three more than any other Spurs player ?#TOTBRE pic.twitter.com/qv0WwStMXI
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 3, 2021
SUBSTITUTES
Harry Winks: N/A
Introduced in place of Moura, Winks helped see the game out without much of a fuss.
Japhet Tanganga: N/A
On for Emerson, Tanganga helped see the game out and even had a shot blocked on one of his forays down the right flank.
Steven Bergwijn: N/A
A late introduction in place of Son, Bergwijn barely had any time to make an impact.
