Brentford 0-0 Tottenham: Player ratings as Spurs lose ground in top-four race
By Sean Walsh
Tottenham lost vital ground in the race for a Champions League place following a 0-0 draw at Brentford.
Spurs failed to register a shot on target for the second week running and now sit two points behind Arsenal in the Premier League table.
Bryan Mbeumo had a shot deflected wide off of Cristian Romero early on in the only chance of the opening stages, before an Ivan Toney header rattled the bar from a Christian Eriksen corner.
The Bees had the better of the first half, looking particularly threatening from set pieces, but the two sides went into the break on level terms after a tense 45 minutes.
Rico Henry's low cross was turned over by Mbeumo just after the break as the hosts remained in the ascendancy, while Harry Kane, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur had efforts blocked amid a scramble in the Brentford box as Spurs threatened to take control.
Eriksen nearly punished Eric Dier for an errant pass out of defence but Romero was again on hand to make a recovery challenge, before Kane cleared Pontus Jansson's header off the line and Hugo Lloris denied Eriksen from the rebound.
Toney again struck the woodwork from an Eriksen set piece and Mbeumo's rebound could only find the side-netting in stoppage time, before Kane nearly stole the points with an outrageous overhead kick.
But the spoils were shared and Brentford's impressive streak of winning every game with Eriksen in the starting lineup came to an end, but the Bees remain 11th in the table and remain in with a shout of a top-half finish.
Brentford vs Tottenham player ratings
1. Brentford (3-5-2)
GK: David Raya - 6/10 - Rarely called into action but helped in playing from the back.
CB: Mads Roerslev - 7/10 - Held his own against Son for the most part.
CB: Pontus Jansson - 9/10 - Dominant at both ends, unlucky not to have scored.
CB: Mads Bech Sorensen - 6/10 - Like namesake Roerslev was impressive against a higher standard of opposition.
RM: Saman Ghoddos - 6/10 - Flittered between wing-back, traditional winger and a number ten and was very disciplined.
CM: Vitaly Janelt - 6/10 - Had big shoes to fill in the absence of Christian Norgaard and did a decent job.
CM: Mathias Jensen - 6/10 - Started brightly but his influence waned.
CM: Christian Eriksen - 7/10 - As has usually been the case, Eriksen was the player who looked most likely to come up with a moment of magic.
LM: Rico Henry - 8/10 - Dominated the left-flank at both ends of the pitch.
CF: Bryan Mbeumo - 5/10 - Pressed hard but couldn't find the net.
CF: Ivan Toney - 5/10 - Ditto. Found it tough trying to get the better of Romero.
SUB: Yoane Wissa (78' for Ghoddos) - 5/10
SUB: Josh Dasilva (78' for Jensen) - 5/10
2. Tottenham (3-4-3)
GK: Hugo Lloris - 7/10 - Stood tall between the sticks and came to Spurs' rescue on a few occasions.
CB: Cristian Romero - 7/10 - Was very aggressive and kept Toney pinned down.
CB: Eric Dier - 4/10 - A string of poor passes disrupted Spurs' rhythm.
CB: Ben Davies - 6/10 - Roamed forward with intent but was rarely found.
RM: Emerson Royal - 3/10 - Staggeringly short of technique.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur - 4/10 - Caught dawdling several times, needed to move the ball quicker.
CM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - 5/10 - Was up for the physical challenge but couldn't find a creative spark.
LM: Ryan Sessegnon - 4/10 - Very timid on and off the ball. Subbed for Sanchez.
RF: Dejan Kulusevski - 4/10 - Struggled to match Brentford's intelligence and physicality.
CF: Harry Kane - 5/10 - Got more involved in the second half but it was too little too late.
LF: Son Heung-min - 5/10 - Looked dangerous when 30 yards from goal but that was it.
SUB: Davinson Sanchez (74' for Sessegnon) - 5/10
SUB: Lucas Moura (86' for Emerson) - N/A