Tottenham use lucky omen to beat Brentford as VAR ignores Guglielmo Vicario handball

TOTTENHAM 3-1 BRENTFORD: Spurs rode their luck before eventually killing off Thomas Frank's frustrated Bees - in a match that was marred with controversy - courtesy of goals from Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson and James Maddison

Turns out the solution to Tottenham's Premier League woes was simple - they just like playing at 3pm on a Saturday.

Assisted by the incompetence of the match officials - Spurs successfully swatted Brentford aside to make it nine wins from 10 since the start of last season during their favourite kick-off slot.

But there is no denying the Bees had every right to feel aggrieved after Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario seemingly handled outside his area during the second half.

VAR insist they could not get involved as there was little proof the blunder represented the denial of a goalscoring opportunity, and the incident went unpunished before James Maddison put the game beyond the frustrated visitors' reach.

Somewhat remarkably, Brentford became just the second team in Premier League history to score in the first minute of back-to-back top-flight matches after Manchester City achieved the same feat in February 2019.

Keane Lewis-Potter probed from the left and sluggish Spurs failed to stop his pinpoint cross which was stylishly swept home on the volley by Bryan Mbeumo after just 22 seconds.

Incredibly, that was the exact same time on the clock last weekend when Yoane Wissa stunned the Etihad Stadium with a quick-fire opener at City.

And just when you began to question Tottenham's mental toughness - they issued the perfect response. Maddison pressed high, intercepting an uncharacteristically careless pass from Ethan Pinnock before his tame strike was parried into the pathway of grateful goalscorer Dominic Solanke by Mark Flekken.

Ange Postecoglou had jumped to the defence of his marquee £65million summer recruit this week - revealing he vindicated his arrival over the signing of Ivan Toney - and his rousing statement paid dividends as the 27-year-old opened his Tottenham account on eight minutes.

Son Heung-min, who looks desperately short of confidence, then teed up Brennan Johnson to smash home Spurs' second after the determined Welshman hit a late winner at Coventry in midweek.

A fine half nearly ended in embarrassment when shaky shot-stopper Vicario was pressed and mugged by Fabio Carvalho but the Italian atoned for his error by sprawling across his six-yard box to desperately deny Mbeumo.

If that was stressful - Postecoglou would have been tearing his hair out on 57 minutes when his No.1 appeared to jab the ball outside his penalty box amid pressure from Mikkel Damsgaard. Brentford were rightly furious - Kristoffer Ajer and Thomas Frank were booked for their remonstrations - but referee John Brooks and VAR did nothing.

Just to add insult to injury, moments later the erratic Italian made an excellent low stop to deny Mbeumo before displaying excellent reflexes to keep out Kevin Schade's header. Maddison then put Spurs out of sight on 85 minutes when he collected Son's pass and clipped to onrushing Flekken for his first of the season.

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