Brentford were beaten 2-1 by an experienced Tottenham Hotspur in a behind closed doors friendly this afternoon.
On a warm afternoon at Tottenham’s Training Ground, the hosts came out on top with a 2-1 win secured with a penalty in each half. Brentford’s goal was scored in the dying seconds by Jermaine Udumaga.
Brentford used 21 players with Jack Bonham playing the full 90 minutes in goal while Andre Gray, Jake Bidwell, Konstantin Kerschbaumer and Alan Judge all played more than an hour.
Tottenham also used more than 20 players and fielded a first half team that included Christian Eriksen and Nabil Bentaleb in attacking positions with new signings Kieran Trippier and Toby Alderweireld among those in defence.
The hosts had much the better of the first half but had just one goal to show for their efforts. That was a penalty converted by Shaq Coulthirst – who just squeezed his effort under Bonham – after Moses Odubajo had brought down Nathan Oduwa.
Bonham was probably Brentford’s busiest player in the first half. He denied Oduwa when he went through one-on-one, kept out an Erikson free kick and saved from Bentaleb. Bonham also saved from Joshua Onomah while Coulthirst headed wide, Erikson fizzed a shot just off target and Bentaleb hit the post after a fine turn and run.
Kerschbaumer went close for Brentford after good work from Gray while Jota also had a couple of sights of goal but the hosts ended the half well. Danny Rose had a shot blocked and Bonham saved from Erikson to keep The Bees in it.
Brentford were much better in the early stages of the second half. Courtney Senior provided an exciting outlet on the right and Toumani Diagouraga saw a lot of the ball in the centre of the field as The Bees had more of the ball.
Senior had a shot saved and then brought an even better stop out of the home goalkeeper after a fine run. Gray could have levelled when he got on to a long ball but as he tried to round the goalkeeper 25 yards out he was halted. The Brentford striker was then just unable to turn home a Kerschbaumer cross.
The home side introduced Dele Alli, Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen, Moussa Dembélé and Eric Dier among others at the break and as the half wore on they got in to their stride. Dembélé headed wide when well placed, Nacer Chadli shot wide and Vertonghen saw a fierce volley blocked.
Bonham saved from Chadli and then denied Ben Davies when the left back only had the Brentford goalkeeper to beat. The home grabbed their second in stoppage time, again from the spot.
Alli got on to a Chadli pass and was brought down by Bonham as he attempted to round the goalkeeper. The attacking midfield player stepped up to make it two, sending Bonham the wrong way.
There was still time, however, for Brentford to have the last word with the last kick as Udumaga turned a Nico Yennaris cross home from close range to ensure they ended with only a 2-1 loss.
Line-up: Bonham; Odubajo (sub McCormack 46), Tarkowski (sub Dean 46), Bjelland (sub Barbet 46), Bidwell (sub O’Connell 65 mins); Kerschbaumer (sub Gogia 65 mins), McEachran (sub Diagouraga 46), Judge (sub Green 65 mins); Jota (sub Senior 46), Gray (sub Udumaga 65 mins), Williams (sub Yennaris 46)