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In an engaging encounter in North London tonight, Tottenham Hotspur overcame Brentford 2-0 in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup.
The win puts Tottenham Hotspur into their first domestic cup final since 2015, but Brentford should come away from their loss with plenty of pride. They pushed Jose Mourinho’s men all the way and only some questionable defending – as well as a tight VAR call – lost them this game.
The scoring was opened by Tottenham early on, as some poor marking from defenders Ethan Pinnock and Mads Sorensen left Moussa Sissoko free to head a Sergio Reguilon cross home.
Brentford kept attacking though and thought they’d equalized midway through the second half – only for Ivan Toney’s goal to be disallowed by VAR for offside. Minutes later, the game was over, as Tanguy Ndombele’s pass played Son Heung-min through, and the Korean finished comfortably.
There was still time for some more drama, as a VAR call saw Brentford midfielder Josh Dasilva sent off for a nasty lunge on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. But overall, Tottenham deserved their win and will now head to Wembley.
Here are five talking points from Tottenham’s 2-0 win over Brentford.
#1 So can Mourinho end Tottenham’s trophy drought?
When Tottenham fired long-time boss Mauricio Pochettino in November 2019 and replaced him with Jose Mourinho, many observers were shocked. After all, the Portuguese boss will forever be linked with Tottenham’s London rivals Chelsea after winning three Premier League titles with them.
Moreover, Mourinho was hardly renowned for playing the swashbuckling football that Tottenham fans love to see.
The mission statement was clear, though. Mourinho was seen as a serial winner, and he’d been brought to Tottenham to win them their first trophy since 2008. And now, less than two years into his appointment, he’s one game away from achieving that goal.
Sure, the trophy in question is only the EFL Cup – a secondary competition at best. But a victory at Wembley in April could well be the beginning of a long-awaited trophy haul for Tottenham.
Tonight’s semi-final against Brentford was clearly a favorable draw, with both of the Manchester clubs involved in the other semi. But it was still a potential banana skin, given the form of Thomas Frank’s team as of late. And yet Mourinho’s men navigated the tie brilliantly and came away with a deserved win.
So given Mourinho’s history with this competition – he’s won the EFL Cup on four occasions – would anyone now bet against Tottenham lifting the trophy in April?
#2 Brentford show their Premier League credentials despite their loss
Brentford have been one of the EFL Championship’s form teams this season, and they currently sit fourth in the table with a game in hand on second-placed Swansea City. They’ve lost just three matches in the league thus far, and in fact, hadn’t tasted defeat since October 24th.
That gave tonight’s match an even more interesting angle, as not only did it give Brentford a chance to make it to the EFL Cup final, but it was also a chance to once again show off their credentials against Premier League opposition. Prior to meeting Spurs, they’d eliminated four top-flight opponents from this competition.
And to be honest, even in defeat, the Bees looked very much like a Premier League side in the making. Their defense held strong against the majority of Tottenham’s attacks – despite mistakes allowing Spurs to score their two goals – with Rico Henry, in particular, looking outstanding at left-back.
And going forward – particularly in the first half – the likes of Bryan Mbuemo and Ivan Toney looked dangerous. Tottenham’s defenders had to be at their very best to keep a clean sheet. In fact, Serge Aurier’s challenge on Toney early in the second half was probably a game-saver.
Judging by tonight’s performance, barring a total collapse, Thomas Frank’s side seem highly likely to achieve promotion to the Premier League. And to be honest, with some more smart recruitment, they could probably thrive there too.
#3 Should Toney’s goal have stood?
It seems almost cliché to be discussing an offside-based VAR decision once again. But Brentford fans would probably find it hard not to be aggrieved about tonight’s loss to Tottenham. With just over 20 minutes of the game remaining, Ivan Toney thought he’d brought the match level – only for the controversial system to chalk his goal off.
Judging by the replay, it looked like at worst, Toney’s knee was further forward than Moussa Sissoko’s foot. However, there were centimeters in the decision and the striker was attempting to get to his feet at the time, forcing his knee forward in the process.
Essentially, in the pre-VAR days, this would’ve been a perfectly acceptable goal caused largely by some suspect defending from Tottenham from a set-piece. By the letter of the law, Toney was offside, but the offside rule was brought in to stop attackers from gaining an unfair advantage – hardly the case here.
At some stage, surely common sense must kick in and bring a halt to these decisions. When VAR was introduced, the idea was to prevent referees from making clear and obvious errors – not to chalk off goals due to attackers being a matter of centimeters offside. This was just the latest example of the system at its very worst.
#4 Tottenham were back on form – making them a dangerous prospect for Premier League opposition
After four largely disappointing performances in a row – including two losses – many observers had begun to write off Tottenham’s Premier League title hopes. Tottenham showed flashes of their best form in their 3-0 win against Leeds United at the weekend, but tonight’s match was another step forward.
Tottenham’s defenders managed to shut down a very dangerous Brentford attack – restricting them to three shots on target from eleven attempts. In attack, Jose Mourinho’s side looked fluid and dangerous and could’ve had more than their two goals.
Tanguy Ndombele, in particular, looked excellent, and it was notable that for the first time this season, the Frenchman was able to complete 90 minutes without being substituted.
Based on tonight’s performance – as well as that Leeds win – Tottenham could be getting back to their best form at just the right time as the fixtures begin to really pile up. If Tottenham can reproduce this kind of showing and defeat Aston Villa next week, which won’t be easy, then the title challenge could definitely be back on.
#5 Josh Dasilva’s red card puts a black mark on Brentford’s performance
Brentford should probably walk away from tonight’s loss to Tottenham with their heads held high. Unfortunately, Thomas Frank’s side ended the game under a bit of a black cloud following a red card for midfielder Josh Dasilva.
The incident in question saw Dasilva involved in a seemingly innocuous coming-together with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg that referee Mike Dean initially missed. However, VAR then advised Dean to check his monitor, and the replay showed that the incident was not innocuous at all.
In reality, Dasilva had caught Hojbjerg with a horrific lunge that could easily have broken the Dane’s leg. In the end, the Tottenham midfielder was left with a trio of nasty gashes on his left leg – and was quickly substituted afterward. VAR quite rightly advised Dean to show Dasilva the red card.
In a game that’d seen the worst from VAR with the offside call on Toney, this was an example of how the system should work. Dean missed the incident through no fault of his own, was shown it on a replay, and the right call was then made.
It was an unfortunate end to Dasilva’s game, as he’d looked really good in the first half. And of course, it was his goal against Newcastle United that put Brentford into this match in the first place.
The young midfielder likely didn’t mean to harm Hojbjerg, as there didn’t appear to be malice in the challenge. But hopefully, he’ll learn from this incident that you can’t lunge over the top of the ball like that.
Overall, though, the incident left an unfortunate black mark on what was a pretty impressive performance from the Bees.
