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Premier League: Spurs win, City smashed | 02:45
Tottenham has snapped a seven-game Premier League winless run with a 2-0 victory at Brentford that eases pressure on Ange Postecoglou, who chose to depart from ‘Angeball’ tactics for the crucial win.
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Spurs banished fears of being dragged into a relegation battle and eased the pressure on Postecoglou’s job thanks to Vitaly Janelt’s own goal and a late Pape Sarr strike to move 10 points clear of the bottom three.
The Bees were left to rue a number of missed chances against an injury-ravaged Tottenham defence.
Yoane Wissa’s header came off the bar as Brentford pushed for an equaliser. But Spurs picked them off on the counter-attack when Pape Sarr prodded through Valdimarsson’s legs from Son’s pass.
Victory lifts Tottenham to 14th and 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
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The win came with Postecoglou ditching his trademark ‘Angeball’ style with the Australian finally adopting a more defensive approach for his injury-ravaged, and fatigued squad.
“Difficult place to come, difficult place to win at and difficult place to keep them out,” Postecoglou said.
“The lads were brilliant. Our second goal was outstanding and we were always a threat when we had it.”
Speaking about what happened to Angeball, he added: “They’re human beings, not robots.
“People want to dismiss it. They want to talk about excuses but that’s the reality. I know the reality. These guys are giving everything.
“We knew we couldn’t go out there and dominate. Brentford had a week to prepare. We had 50-something hours. With the same group of players. With that context, the performance was outstanding.”
Tottenham can now concentrate on a huge week in the domestic cup competitions. They travel to Liverpool defending a 1-0 lead in the second leg of their League Cup semi-final on Thursday, before a visit to Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round.
The club announced the signing of centre-back Kevin Danso from Lens before Sunday’s game and are expected to make further additions on the final day of the transfer window.
“It’s the same group of players who have to play Thursday and Sunday and you can’t get away from the fact that playing Thursday and Sunday consistently without being able to rotate takes a toll,” said Postecoglou.
“The Premier League is relentless and you’re meeting teams who’ve had seven days’ break and we’ve had 48 hours.
“From that perspective the pleasing thing is that we had Micky (Van de Ven) back on Thursday, Djed (Spence) in today and we’ve signed Kevin. The group now are getting encouragement and energy from getting some help and I have no doubt they’ll assist us in addressing our position in the league.”
Spurs hijacked a deal Wolves had in place to sign Danso, who joins initially on loan with an obligation to buy at the end of the season for 25 million euros (£21 million, $42 million).
Postecoglou’s first-choice centre-backs Van de Ven and Cristian Romero have missed a large part of the season, while their backup Radu Dragusin is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a serious knee injury.
Chelsea’s Axel Disasi is also reportedly on the verge of a move across London before Monday’s transfer deadline.
“It’s great to get Kevin in, we desperately needed a defender,” added Postecoglou.
“Getting him is great because he’s a great fit for us. He’s had a strong career and he’s at an age now (26) where he wants to kick on and he has all the attributes we look for. We’re really pleased and it will be a lift for the whole group.”
