Premier League
Djed Spence stands out for Tottenham in win at Brentford
Tottenham Hotspur ended their four-game losing streak in the Premier League with a 2-0 win over Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday.
The London heavyweights went into the game as underdogs, but managed to come on top with a much-needed victory. An own goal from Vitaly Janelt broke the deadlock in the 29th minute. Pape Matar Sarr put the game beyond Brentford’s sight with the 2nd, minutes before stoppage time.
There were several top performers in the defensive department and Djed Spence stood out from the left-back position. The 24-year-old has richly benefited from Spurs’ injury crisis this campaign, and he was superb against the Bees, winning 8 duels alongside 7 recoveries and 3 successful tackles.
The former Middlesbrough man also won 100% of his dribbles and made a very important goal-line clearance, just a minute before Sarr found the net. Spence had a tough start to his Spurs career, but he has become a key player under manager Ange Postecoglou amid the early season injury crisis.
Transformed
Spence joined Spurs from Middlesbrough with a big reputation in the Championship. He grabbed the attention with his overlapping runs and confidence with the ball at his feet. He could not break into Spurs’ plans in his first 2 seasons, but has become more influential under Postecoglou this term.
The full-back has been transformed by the Australian. Spence has played as a right-back, centre-back or left-back this campaign. He has been consistent with his displays and produced one of his best performances at Brentford. His goalline clearance has probably kept Postecoglou in his job.
With Destiny Udogie out with a hamstring injury for another few weeks, Spence has the opportunity to establish himself as the main man in the left-back role. The defender, who received 9/10 rating from football.london for his performance yesterday, will have a tough test against Mohamed Salah when Spurs host Liverpool in the 2nd leg of the Carabao Cup on Thursday evening. Spurs are 1-0 up after the first leg, but face a stern challenge at Anfield.
