Tottenham Latest: Harry Kane Bayern departure followed by Brentford draw

In the first match since Kane’s departure, Spurs scored twice in a positive performance against Brentford.

It has been an intense week for Spurs. Harry Kane’s transfer to Bayern Munich was confirmed before the team travelled to the GTech Community Stadium to face Brentford in their opening game of the 2023/24 Premier League season.

Starting with Kane, his move to the German Champions was confirmed on Saturday. The forward signed a four-year contract in a move rumoured to be worth £100 million. He made his debut for the Bavarian giants, coming on as a substitute in the German Super Cup, where RB Leipzig ended up winning the final.

Kane joined the North London club back in 2009. The forward made his senior debut for THFC in a 5-0 UEFA Europa League victory against Hearts on 25th August 2011.

The 2013/14 season, saw Kane make 10 Premier League appearances for Tottenham, scoring three goals and getting two assists. The North London club finished in 6th that season with 69 points accumulated.

Harry Kane became a regular in the first team the following season (2014/15), scoring 21 goals (with five assists to boot) in 34 Premier League appearances. He also scored seven goals in 9 Europa League appearances that term, with three further goals also coming in the League Cup.

Kane was a crucial contributor in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons, where the club challenged for the league title. Across those two seasons, he scored 46 goals. He scored 30 league goals in 2017/18, and he went on to drop below 20 Premier League goals just twice during the remainder of his time with the club.

Overall, Harry Kane scored 280 goals in 435 appearances for Spurs in all competitions.

Spurs’ opening 2023/24 Premier League fixture against Brentford would be the first without Kane, and they put on a display that will have put some minds to rest. The Lilywhites made the short trip to the GTech Community Stadium to face Brentford.

This was Ange Postecoglou’s first competitive match in charge of Tottenham, and his team put on a display that showed a glimpse of what fans can expect from his team going forward. Whilst with Celtic, the Australian got his team to play creative and attractive football, which was the case with Spurs on Sunday.

James Maddison, who signed from Leicester City last month, showed his creative prowess and quality in this match, assisting both Spurs’ goals against the Bees.

Cristian Romero gave Tottenham an early advantage after his powerful header found the back of the net after meeting a sumptuous cross into the box from Maddison (11’).

Thomas Frank’s Brentford did find an equaliser after Bryan Mbeumo scored from the penalty spot with almost half an hour gone (27’). Spurs had a chance to immediately re-take the lead through midfielder Yves Bissouma, but the Mali international’s long-range effort missed the target.

It was a first half full of end-to-end action, but unfortunately for Spurs, the next goal saw the home side take the lead through Yoane Wissa (36’).

Tottenham would not give up, and they deserved something for the attractive football and creative prowess they had shown throughout the game.

The Lilywhites restored parity through an unlikely source – Emerson Royal found the back of the net with a low drive from outside the box, finding the bottom left corner in first-half stoppage time (45+4’). Maddison claimed the assist for this goal as well.

Spurs started the second half just as they had ended the first, looking dangerous and on the front foot. James Maddison, who had been at the centre of his team’s goals, looked to score a goal himself only to be denied by a great save from Mark Flekken (47’).

Davinson Sanchez and Dejan Kulusevski were the next Spurs players to have the chance to score for Spurs. Firstly, Colombia international defender Sanchez saw his header from within the penalty area go agonisingly wide of the post (52’).

Then, Kulusevski unleashed a shot on goal that narrowly went wide following a corner (53’). Kulusevski had another opportunity a few minutes later, but his long-range effort on goal was well blocked by the Bees defenders.

Then, new Tottenham Captain Son Heung-Min was the next Tottenham player to have an opportunity, but his effort was well saved by Flekken, with the ball looking like it may find the bottom left corner (60’). New signing Maddison then forced another save from long range just seconds later (61’).

Richarlison, who may become Spurs’ new talisman up front, came close to giving his team the lead with less than half an hour remaining. The Brazilian unleashed a powerful effort that brought a fantastic save from Flekken (64’).

After Pape Matar Sarr forced another save from Flekken via a header (83’), Richarlison had the last chance for Spurs to find the winning goal, but his shot was blocked well with the game coming to an end (89’).

It ended in a 2 – 2 draw, and Spurs can take a lot of positives from this point. Tottenham dominated possession with 69.6% of the ball, as opposed to Brentford’s 30.4%. As for shots on target both sides had 6. Spurs did have more shots in general with 18 as opposed to the Bees’ 11 which did show how adventurous and forward thinking that Tottenham were on Sunday.

Spurs Head Coach Ange Postecoglou had this to say following the game (via Sky Sports): “Pleased with the effort. I thought we acquitted ourselves well, in terms of not letting the game get away from us at 2-1 down. I thought the lads held it together well – we controlled the game for the most part.

“We could have been more creative – part of that front third is about having the players play with more freedom. At the moment they’re still in learning mode. It’ll happen, we’ve got dangerous players.”

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