Two moments that changed the Tottenham Brentford match

It was not a pretty 90 minutes from Tottenham Hotspur, who were sleepwalking for the first hour. However, two plays woke Spurs from their slumber and rescued a point.

Tottenham fans who traveled across London to watch Spurs at Brentford must feel they only got half their money’s worth. Spurs were disinterested for the first hour of play, only putting in a 30-minute shift. Even that spurt of real effort seemed like it would not come after falling behind 1-0. Nonetheless, a feeling of being hard-done turned the Spurs and the game around.

Does VAR provide Tottenham with some life?

It is hard to say VAR helped, but VAR ignoring what many Spurs felt was a penalty gave Tottenham life and sent Twitter into a meltdown.

Down two goals, with Brentford looking to defend, Spurs were on the ascendency and were starting to build some pressure. A cross was coming into Harry Kane, and our talisman was tackled in the box.

Bee Mee, defending on the play, had his back to the ball and arm around Kane’s waste like they were waltzing. As Kane tried to jump, Mee pulled and then let go as the ball bounced beyond both players who were now on the ground.

Kane jumped up with his arms outstretched asking for a call.

David Coote initially waved off the defense but did hold play for a VAR review, with Stuart Atwell confirming Coote’s no-call. Had that been a Spurs player on Ivan Toney, there is no doubt a penalty would have been given; however, Kane got no such fortune.

DIer’s mistake gives Tottenham needed urgency

The worst part of the incident for Tottenham was that almost immediately after the no-call, Eric Dier had his miscue, and Toney had Brentford up 2-0. It was undoubtedly the turning point in the game. Instead of 1-1, Spurs were down 2-0, and Conte was preparing a triple change. Ultimately, the change never came, as Clement Lenglet had Kane connected to put Spurs back in the match.

Unfortunately, the goal only makes the game 2-1 in Brentford’s favor instead of 2-1 for Spurs. And while Tottenham did score a second and had the best chances for the third, including Kane hitting the post. One cannot help but feel like if the penalty call goes the other way, Toney never scores, and Tottenham wins the game. But in the end, it is what it is, and Spurs rescued a point.