Tottenham Hotspur completed yet another second-half comeback this season, this time coming from two-goals down to salvage a point in an entertaining 2-2 draw away to Brentford.
In the first Premier League game back since the World Cup break, both sides got off to a sluggish start, and struggled to take control. Brentford looked sharper than Spurs though, and they opened the scoring after 15 minutes.
Vitaly Janelt prodded home a loose ball in the box after Mathias Jensen’s volley was initially parried by Fraser Forster.
Antonio Conte’s men didn’t react after falling behind, and instead it was the home side who continued to look dangerous and add a second.
The Bees’ top scorer Ivan Toney thought he doubled his side’s lead before HT after rounding Forster and tapping in, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
The story of Tottenham Hotspur’s season so far has been their second-half turnarounds, and if they were to get anything here today, they would need yet another one of those.
The start to the second period indicated it could be another of those on the horizon, as they came out looking like a completely different side, playing with more aggression and intent.
However, for all of their commitment going forward, they were hit with a sucker punch after some criminally bad defending from a corner.
Bryan Mbeumo’s corner was flicked on by Christian Nørgaard to an unmarked Toney, who made the statuesque Spurs defence pay by tapping the ball in. Conte’s men pushed up the pitch in a desperate search to turn the game around, and the Bees’ lead was reduced to one around the hour mark, as Harry Kane rose highest in the box to beautifully guide Clément Lenglet’s cross into the back of the net, making him the Premier League’s outright top scorer on Boxing Day, with 10 goals.
The typical Spurs second-half comeback was complete just minutes later as this time Pierre-Emile Højbjerg was unmarked in the box, and he had the time to take a touch and smash the ball past David Raya. Kane almost snatched a late winner, but his looping header came off the crossbar, as the sides had to settle for a point each.
