AFTER A wonderful World Cup full of drama, joy, and pain the return of the Premier League had quite the script to follow, writes Matthew Chadder from the Gtech Community Stadium.
It all kicked off with a 2-2 Boxing Day clash between top four chasing Tottenham and mid-table Brentford – who remarkably beat Manchester City last time out, in a match which feels like a lifetime ago.
England captain Harry Kane was straight back into action after penalty heartbreak, with his opposing keeper that night Hugo Lloris making way for Fraser Forster, following final heartbreak of his own.
Ivan Toney remained upfront for the Bees – despite current controversies surrounding the English forward.
The Bees landed the first blow as Vitaly Janelt rolled into an empty net after Forster could only parry the initial strike.
The goal marked the 9th game in a row where Tottenham have gone 1-0 behind.
Impressively, in Brentford’s short time in the league, they had never lost a game when scoring first, which spelt trouble for Antonio Conte and his men, who had not started well.
In the 34th minute Forster gave a better showing of himself as he made himself big, saving xxxx Zanka’s close range strike with his right boot.
Brentford thought they had doubled their lead right on half-time, after Yves Bissouma carelessly slipped on the ball in midfield, allowing Toney to be played in and round the keeper, but the forward was offside.
Brentford went in ahead and would have been confident of making it 4 league matches unbeaten in the second half.
However, Tottenham have won the most points from losing positions in the league this year.
But once again, Tottenham were architects of their own downfall, as Eric Dier sliced an attempted clearance away for a corner, which Toney converted from, making it 2-0.
Mathias Jensen and Bissouma were booked just a minute apart, before Toney was shown a yellow for a foul on Clement Lenglet as the game began to boil over.
The match really came to life in the 65th minute, as Lenglet curled a pinpoint delivery into the box for Kane to head a goal back.
All of a sudden, within ten minutes, the game had flipped on its head, as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg equalised for Spurs, driving home a Dejan Kulusevski cutback.
Both sides had penalty calls turned down within thirty seconds of madness, Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo booked for diving by referee David Coote.
Spurs almost repeated the trick, as Kane headed Lenglet’s delivery off the bar, as Brentford then went up the pitch and had a chance of their own to win it, with Toney poking the ball over from six yards.
Ultimately, neither side could find a winner in a match which mirrored the drama of the World Cup that proceeded it.
Brentford move up a place into ninth, as Tottenham remain fourth, however just four points clear of Manchester United who have two games in hand.
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