Life is never dull for Tottenham fans under Ange Postecoglou. After a dire first 45 minutes that recalled the bad old days of José Mourinho and Antonio Conte ended with them trailing to the ever-antagonistic Neal Maupay’s opener, the Spurs manager’s double substitution was the catalyst for victory as three goals in eight spectacular minutes from the haphazard Destiny Udogie, Brennan Johnson and Richarlison turned this game on its head.
There was still time for more drama as Ivan Toney latched on to a comical backpass from Udogie to score his second goal in as many games since his comeback from a gambling ban and give Thomas Frank’s side hope. But with James Maddison back pulling the strings, it was all-action Tottenham who claimed the points to move above Aston Villa into fourth place, even if their manager was less than impressed with their “naive” first half.
“We were getting dragged into things, that’s not who we are,” Postecoglou said. “We were chatting to the ref more than we were playing football. We are naive at times, focusing on the wrong things, but that’s all part of our growth.
“The lads showed character to come back, for 25 minutes of the second half we were outstanding, the type of team we can be. It could have been easy to drop our heads.”
Spurs were five points clear at the top of the table when Maddison made his last start on 6 November against Chelsea before a run of four defeats in five matches pegged them back.
While he had to be withdrawn late on after needing treatment for cramp, the England midfielder looked back to his best and was instrumental in his side’s turnaround. “He has the X-factor,” Johnson said. “Today was him sharpening his tools again.”
Brentford’s own comeback story 11 days ago featured Toney scoring a controversial free‑kick against Nottingham Forest and, after weathering an early storm as Maddison settled seamlessly into his playmaker role, the visitors began to offer a threat.
There were early warning signs for Spurs when Maupay failed to control a pass from Keane Lewis‑Potter in a good position before Mads Roerslev had a goal chalked off after Mathias Jensen was ruled offside.
Yet with their five-man midfield waiting patiently to pick off Tottenham’s mistakes, it was not long before another chance presented itself. Udogie was guilty of losing the ball on the halfway line and Toney should have done better when he shot straight at Guglielmo Vicario. It didn’t matter, because Maupay was able to bundle home despite slipping at the vital moment under pressure from Cristian Romero. He and Toney then appeared to mock Maddison’s darts celebration to add insult to injury.
A clever shot from the excellent Timo Werner that almost crept in at the near post nearly drew the hosts level before Richarlison bent a curling shot just wide. Maupay was shown a yellow card after clashing with Dejan Kulusevski before Toney was presented with a golden chance to make it 2-0 from Jensen’s free‑kick, but he could only direct his header straight at Vicario. At half-time, Postecoglou made his way down the tunnel deep in thought.
His response was to make a double substitution. Oliver Skipp and Rodrigo Bentancur were hauled off and replaced by Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Johnson, with Kulusevski moved to central midfield. The impact was instantaneous.
Udogie combined with Werner down the left before finishing from a tight angle. Both were also instrumental in Tottenham’s second barely a minute later when the German picked out Johnson at the back post for the simplest of tap-ins.
The third arrived courtesy of Richarlison after Maddison’s shot was blocked by Ethan Pinnock and the Brazilian made no mistake from close range. Suddenly Brentford were being run ragged as Spurs surged forward with new belief. “We had a 10‑minute blackout at the start of the second half,” Frank said. “But we stayed in the game.”
Toney wasted another excellent chance to give his side a lifeline and was greeted by jeers from the home fans. But he made no mistake when Udogie inexplicably passed the ball straight to him as he lurked by the penalty area to set up a nervous finale.
Not that Tottenham were content to just protect their lead. They kept pressing forward until the final whistle looking for a fourth goal that did not quite come. Had Shandon Baptiste, on as a substitute, not fired over in injury time it could easily have been a different story.
