Tottenham 2-0 Brentford: Simons shines as Frank gets one over former employers

Xavi Simons scored one and assisted another as Thomas Frank secured a win over his former club thanks to Tottenham's 2-0 triumph over Brentford.

Spurs had not won at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since their opening game against Burnley and needed Guglielmo Vicario at his sharpest to deny Igor Thiago's near-post drive early on.

That let-off proved crucial as Simons raced onto Pedro Porro's exquisite ball down the right and squared for Richarlison to finish into an unguarded goal in the 25th minute.

Caoimhin Kelleher denied Randal Kolo Muani from point-blank range before Simons ghosted through the Brentford defence and picked out the bottom-left corner two minutes before the break for his first Spurs goal in his 19th outing.

Djed Spence was thwarted by Kelleher after pouncing on more poor defending, this time by Nathan Collins, early in the second half.

Mohammed Kudus thought he had a third with 10 minutes to go but was denied by the offside flag, and Pape Matar Sarr drew a close-range stop from Kelleher as Spurs won for the first time in six league outings.

Data Debrief: Simons shines as Bees stung on the road again

Simons was influential in everything Spurs did going forward, finishing the match with game-high individual totals of four shots and two shots on target, having also set up Richarlison's opener.

Frank will be eager to face his former side again as Spurs produced their second-highest xG total in a Premier League game this season (2.15), while it was also their lowest xG against total (0.29), with Brentford managing just one shot on target.

Brentford's woes away from continued and no side has lost more Premier League away games than the Bees this season (seven), with only Wolves (one) picking up fewer points on the road than Keith Andrews' side (three).

They have conceded 13 first-half goals in 15 games, only Burnley (14) have conceded more in the Premier League this season.