'I knew my moment would come' – Simons thrilled to break Spurs duck

Xavi Simons believes it was a matter of time before he scored his first Tottenham goal after breaking his duck in Saturday's 2-0 win over Brentford.

The Netherlands international laid on the opener for Richarlison and then finished off a fine individual effort two minutes before the break at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the hosts ended a run of five league games without a win.

It was Simons' 19th Spurs appearance in all competitions and the attacking midfielder, signed from RB Leipzig in the close season, was confident his moment would arrive.

"It means a lot. I have been through new situations in private life and football and you have to handle that every day and come into the club with the mindset of working," he said in quotes reported by BBC Sport.

"For sure I knew it would come, it was just a matter of time. I put the work and dedication in every day and it was important to score but the most important thing was the three points.

"When I received the ball I said to myself, just go. I know I am quite fast with the ball so I saw some space and I went to it."

Simons both scored and assisted in the same game for the ninth time in Europe's big-five leagues, doing so in the first half for the third time after doing so twice for Leipzig previously.

He finished with a game-high four shots, two of which were on target, and had an xG of 0.29.

Asked if this performance was a sign of things to come, Simons said: "I was hungry to play today. I want to play football. 

"I want to enjoy being here everyday with the fans and making my dreams come true.

"It feels really good. I'm really happy to win the three points and step-by-step we are working to bring that to the fans."

Tottenham recorded just their fourth home Premier League win of 2025, and their first since the opening day of the season against Burnley, ending their six-game run without a home win (D2 L4).

Against his former team, Thomas Frank saw his Spurs side produce their second-highest xG total in a Premier League game this season (2.15), their most shots on target (seven), faced their fewest shots (four), shots on target (one) and lowest xG against total (0.29).

"I think it's because of a few things. I like the look of the team in general. It's a little bit of everything," Frank said of his side' xG being higher than in recent games.

 "We felt we needed a top performance for all of us and if we can do more of this together then this can be the fortress we dream of. 

"It is one step forward, there are a lot of steps to be there every week consistently but I loved it. I think the fans were very good."

On Simons' performance, Frank added: "Very pleasing. I am really so pleased for him because he has been working so hard on the training pitch and in the gym. 

"He is a 24/7 pro and wants it so badly. I think he has been on a good run and close to being decisive. Today with an assist and a goal, very good."

Only Wolves (one) have collected fewer points on the road in the Premier League this season than Brentford (three), while their seven losses are the joint-most along with Burnley.

Speaking about their poor record away from home, Bees boss Keith Andrews said: "I'm focussing on today really not so much overall. 

"Some of the performances have been really good. If we look at today's performance, today's performance wasn't really good enough and we have to do own that really."

Asked why he felt his team were so far off the pace against Spurs, Andrews replied: "I think we will be searching for those reasons. The group so far have raised expectations I would say from what people thought initially. 

"The belief I have in these players and this football club is huge. One bump in the road. Today in the first half is probably the first time I've felt we aren't really at the levels."