Tottenham continued their fine home run since the arrival of Antonio Conte as they defeated impressive newly promoted Brentford 2-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, recording their third home win under the Italian in all competitions.
Heung-Min Son, who had a hand in the first goal that went down as an own goal to Sergio Canos got the second to condemn the Bees to their second London Derby loss.
Conte made two changes to his side, bringing in Davinson Sanchez and Oliver Skipp in place of Japhet Tanganga and Harry Winks, while his counterpart, Thomas Frank stuck with the same side that saw off Everton in their last win.
It was Tottenham who put the early pressure on when Lucas Moura tested Alvaro Fernandez from the near post early on, but the keeper got a strong hand to put the ball out of play.
It was not for long before Spurs took the lead through a Brentford own goal. Son had done brilliantly down the right side to create space for a cross. His cross was cleared, albeit not properly by Pontus Jansson, which then came off Canos beyond his own goalkeeper.
The Bees continued their fight to get themselves back into the game and almost got an equaliser two minutes shy of the half hour mark when Canos sent in a corner that was headed out by the Tottenham defence as far as Bryan Mbeumo on the edge of the box, who controlled with his chest before his effort towards the top corner went wide.
Son almost made it two for the hosts few minutes before the half time whistle as he cut onto his left side to fire a low strike at goal, which Fernandez had to go down quickly to save for a corner.
The hosts continued their dominance in the second half and their quest for a second goal almost came to fruition with a big chance falling to Harry Kane. Skipp played his captain in on goal, whose left-footed effort was saved by the on-rushing Fernandez.
Seconds later a header from Ben Davies from a Sergio Reguilon cross was headed for the far post, but Fernandez again scampered to catch the ball and relief his team of the pressure.
Conte’s men kept asking the questions and should have since put the game to bed, but for profligacy. Another ball from Kane across the face of goal was missed by all, only for the arriving Emile Pierre Hojbjerg to hit the side netting from a tight angle.
Chances were far and in between for both sides as both struggled to carve each other open. The visitors did not get any shot on target in the game until after the hour mark when Ivan Toney hit a tame left-footed that was easy for Hugo Lloris to gather after receiving a cross from Vitaly Janelt.
It would turn to a long way back for the Bees in the 65th minute when Son doubled Spurs’ lead at the end of a counterattacking move. Kane played Reguilon through on the left, who sent a cross across goal for Son to tap into an empty net and seal three points for Tottenham.
Concluding Thoughts
Tottenham may not have been spectacular yet throughout this season, they have, however, continued their progression under Antonio Conte as the victory ensured that Conte has now won his first three home games in all competitions.
The win has taken then within two points of the top four and a win in their rescheduled match against Burnley will take them into the Champions League spot.
Thomas Frank has seen his team win just one of their last five games which has seen them drop to 12th position despite their blistering start to the campaign.
They are beginning to feel the full stretch of the Premier League as the games continue to come in thick and fast. They will need to put in more of their opening weeks performances to ensure safety.